Danielle and the Hunters of Artemis
by The Golden Dragon Lord
Summary: First story I'm putting on this website. When Danielle Potter was thrown out of Potter Manor in favor of her 'boy-who-lived' brother, she meets a certain group of man hating Hunters who take her to America. Welcome to the world of the gods, young witch. Twin story, girl-who-lived, minor bashing of Dumbledore and Potters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I got this idea and had to do it eventually, I don't own any of the characters except those I created myself.

Danielle, thirteen, had to wonder when fate started to hate her. She had famous parents and brother, she had magic, when had life started to be so hard? She was supposed to be one of the heirs to the Potter fortune, just like her brother David, now it was gone.

She shivered as she wrapped herself in her cloak, alone in some woods somewhere in Britain didn't seem like a good place to stay, but she didn't have any choice. Refusing to shed any tears, she just threw some more wood into the fire she had conjured. It might have been summer, but the weather didn't know that.

After finishing her second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she had managed to make it to the top of the class. Even beating the resident book worm, Hermione Granger. She had even helped her brother figure out what kind of monster had been attacking the students and had aided him in defeating it. Then she got home.

Her parents, the perfect James and Lily Potter, had gotten their children's grades. She still shivered at the look she had gotten for daring to do better than David, the precious boy-who-lived. It wasn't hard, David was lazy and thought that he was perfect in every possible way. She had always been shoved into the background, forgotten and unloved.

Since she had been beating David ever since first year, her parents had shown their displeasure. Even her godfathers/uncles Sirius and Remus had fallen under David's charm and had ignored her.

She shivered again as she remembered James advancing on her and told her that she was a disgrace on the whole Potter family. She loved reading and spending time alone, James and David loved pranks and parties. Potters went to Gryffindor to become great wizards, they didn't become Hufflepuffs who they thought were essentially lackies.

So it came to pass that she was banished from Potter manor to never darken their doorstep again. That had been a week ago. She had no friends that were willing to help her, she had tried and failed at that one. Now that she was disinherited, she lost access to her trust vault at the bank of Gringotts. She had been forced to sell as many of her things as possible just to afford food; all in all, her life was depressing now.

She had made camp in some woods in Wales, about fifty miles from Potter manor, but honestly didn't want to go back. She couldn't, and to be honest, she didn't want to see them again. It was just lucky that she knew wandless magic or else the Ministry would want to know why a lone witch was camping in the middle of nowhere. She snorted at that, they would just arrest her. She wasn't even a Potter anymore, her parents had even taken her last name in their anger.

Thinking that it was lucky that she had swiped some camping supplies when she had been forced to leave the house, she went back to her tent to wait until morning.

It was about five in the morning when a sudden growl woke her up. Clutching her wand, she opened the tent to find that she was surrounded by what looked like huge black dogs. They were the size of cars, no problem, and were growling at her with angry red eyes.

She had heard of the Grim, but this was ridiculous. The dogs had her cornered, doing a quick count, she found that there seemed to be at least half a dozen of them. Strangely, she got angry. She had been bullied by her brother and his friends for most of her life. She had had to deal with her stupid parents loving her less and less until they finally forgot about her. She had even helped deal with a basilisk in her school dungeons, she was not going to be defeated by a bunch of dogs!

Getting angry, she let out a pulse of magic out of her that knocked all the dogs about ten feet away from her. Putting away her wand, it would only slow her down, she started casting fire spells that set one ablaze. One blasting hex strangely turned one to a gold dust but she shrugged it off. She even used a spell of her own design that conjured an arrow made of light that impaled itself on one of them, causing it to whimper and run off.

She got surprised though when the remaining three attacked her at once. They had all pounced and she couldn't stop them, their fangs and claws about to tear her apart. She mentally groaned, so this was it?

A sudden THAWK came from nowhere and one of the monster dogs turned to dust; a silver arrow where the dog had been. The remaining two stopped and looked, which was stupid as more silver arrows came at them that ripped the dogs to pieces; before exploding into the same golden dust.

Breathing heavily, Danielle got up and looked around, wondering who had saved her. Fingering her deep red hair nervously, a noise in front of her got her attention. She saw the figure of the person that had saved her come closer and got on guard. She smiled, Alastor Moody would be so proud of her.

The figure turned out to be a girl that looked a little older than her, about fourteen or so. She had pure black hair that ran down to her waist and was wearing a silver and black outfit. A tiara adorned her head, like she was a princess or something. Danielle was certainly surprised when the bow she had been holding vanished into thin air.

The girl didn't smile but she seemed at piece in the woods, so Danielle got a relaxed feeling. "Thank you, you saved my life just now."

The mystery girl nodded, a faint silver glow around her, "yes, those hell hounds would have torn thy body to pieces. Luckily I was around."

Danielle nodded, this girl had an old time accent, as evidenced by the use of old English. She found that she liked it though, "I don't suppose you could tell me your name?"

The girl smiled, "very well, my name is Zoe Nightshade, and I am a lieutenant of Artemis, goddess of the hunt."

Danielle had expected a lot of things but that was not one of them. "Artemis? Like the Greek goddess, Artemis? Twin sister of Apollo and one of the Olympians in the old stories?"

Zoe nodded, "the very same, and she is no myth, she is back at our camp ground. Dost thou have any plans around here? I saw thy fight until I stepped in."

Danielle blushed at the memory of her fighting those monsters, hell hounds, and how they had almost killed her. She shook her head, "I don't really have a home right now and I have no plans. I would be honored to meet a goddess."

Zoe laughed, a pleasant sound and Danielle got the feeling that she didn't do that very often. "Very well, take what thou would like from here and we shall leave."

Smiling at the thought that she may have found a friend, Danielle got everything that she needed, which wasn't much. All she took was her wand and a change of clothes that she carried in a backpack. Zoe was waiting for her, completely at peace with the woods around her, and nodded when she saw that Danielle was ready.

"I would like you to meet Lady Artemis as soon as possible. For me alone, it would take about ten minutes."

Danielle frowned, "I'll manage, I'm fast."

Zoe nodded and started running. She wasn't kidding; she was fast. Danielle smiled and ran as well. Danielle had studied magic itself for quite a while and found that a magical focus like a wand wasn't really needed for magic. It helped, but it was more like training wheels. She found she could infuse any part of her body with magic by accident one day.

When she had been eight, David and his friend Ron had pushed her down a steep hill when she had been distracted reading. In panic, she had pushed magic into her feet and legs and managed to stop before she hit the bottom.

Now she was using that same magic to run much faster than the average person and found that she was keeping pace with Zoe pretty well. Zoe herself looked impressed and seemed to enjoy herself as they passed trees and streams.

After about ten minutes of running, where Danielle was panting from the run while Zoe seemed perfectly fine, they reached the outskirts of a large camp. It was much larger and more advanced than Danielle's own. The tents didn't seem like much but she knew they were bigger on the inside than the looked like on the outside were arranged like a crescent moon. A dining pavilion was placed in the center of camp while an archery range was located off to the side.

The camp seemed to consist of eleven or twelve girls that ranged from eight or nine to about sixteen. They seemed pretty lively and content with their lives so someone was doing something right.

Before they could enter the camp however, a large girl that looked about fifteen or sixteen dropped from a nearby tree and in their way. She looked Danielle over for a moment before turning to Zoe, "I thought you were just supposed to look for the hell hounds?"

Zoe sighed, "I did Phoebe, but Danielle here helped me."

The large girl, Phoebe, nodded in approval before turning to the side, "going to get lady Artemis?"

Zoe nodded and walked to the archery range, Danielle following. She was getting nervous, she was about to meet a goddess, someone that could turn her into an ant and step on her if she wanted. Her own magic wouldn't be able to stop that.

She missed what Zoe said to one of the girls by the archery range but the girl nodded and all three of them went to a tent that had a crescent moon on it. All three entered the tent to find that it was indeed, bigger on the inside than on the outside. It was decorated with animal pelts from every animal Danielle could think of, and many she couldn't. Curled up in a ball, was a large wolf, but the girl simply petted her and she relaxed.

Zoe smiled, like she loved doing this, "Danielle, I would like to introduce lady Artemis, goddess of the hunt and moon."

Danielle looked at the girl sitting across from her. She looked about twelve, with rich auburn hair and the same kind of silver and black clothes as the other hunters. Unable to determine if this was a joke or not, Danielle decided to play it safe and bowed low, "it is an honor to meet you."

Artemis smiled, her silver eyes gleaming with laughter, "looks like you brought me someone with manners, Zoe, I like her."

Danielle let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Artemis seemed to know what she was thinking, "Zoe, why don't you take my place as archery teacher for the day. I'll keep our new friend here occupied."

Danielle gulped as Zoe nodded and left the tent. Alone with a goddess, Danielle waited for her to speak first. Sitting on a bear skin rug with a twelve year old goddess and a wolf was not how she expected her day to go, and it was only six in the morning.

Artemis seemed to examine her for a moment, before her eyes widened for a moment. She looked at her curiously, "I take it you have a story for me?"

Danielle contemplated telling her, but could see no harm in telling a goddess when she could probably pluck it from her head anyway.

Artemis smiled, "I could take it from your head, but I would prefer it if you told me yourself."

Danielle flushed red, she didn't know if it was because she was so transparent or if Artemis was reading her mind. She took a deep breath, "I take it you know that I have magic?"

Artemis nodded, "true, I could sense that. I usually take in demigods, or children of the gods, as my hunters but I'll take in anyone that is willing to join. It has been a while since I had a magic user here but I hold no animosity toward you, now then, tell me your story."

They both got comfortable so Danielle could begin, "my name used to be Danielle Potter. I say 'used to be' as my parents disowned me recently. A while ago, a dark magic user calling himself Lord Voldemort tried to kill myself and my brother when we were about fifteen months old. I don't know what happened, no one does, but the curse he used to kill us didn't work and he was forced out of his body, not dead. My brother David was proclaimed a hero and the boy-who-lived, while I was forced into the background.

"It wasn't too hard to deal with at first, but over time my parents started to ignore me more and more. David and his friends would come over and pick on me while if I tried to defend myself my parents would be on David's side." Danielle stopped for a moment as she got her composure back, reliving these memories were haunting her. Artemis didn't seem to mind and simply let her regain her bearings.

Danielle continued, "I went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry like my brother and my parents before me and although I was a good student, it was hard for me to make friends. David again used his fame to get everyone against me to increase his own arrogance. Once our first year of school was over my parents berated me for getting better grades than my idiot of a brother.

"Second year was the same, the only difference was that something was attacking the students. I, with the help of David for some reason, managed to find and kill the monster behind the attacks. David once again took all the credit and I was pushed into the background. A little more than a week ago I was confronted by my parents to demand why I dared to become the best in the class and make David feel stupid."

At this, both Danielle and Artemis snorted in disgust. "My parents figured that enough was enough. They banished me from the family manor, disowning me and even taking my last name. They took all the money that I had been using for school supplies and tuition and eventually left me with nothing. Over the last week, I've been looking for help or support and have received none. I was camping a ways away from here the last few days, until I was attacked by some hell hounds. Zoe found me and saved me from the ones I wasn't able to kill myself.

"If it pleases you, lady Artemis, I would like to join your group. I have nothing left in magical Britain and would like a group of friends, or even a family to join again."

The wolf that had been snoozing on Artemis' lap got up and started to lick Danielle's face in an attempt to cheer her up. Both of them lightly laughed at the situation.

When Artemis got her composure back, she looked at Danielle, "I usually take in those that have been wronged by the male race. Those that have suffered heartache or had been betrayed by the men in their lives. In your case however, I think we can make an exception, just be prepared to hear a lot of male bashing from your fellow hunters."

Danielle turned to face the goddess, "I can join then?"

Artemis nodded, "indeed, just repeat after me."

The oath that Danielle took essentially said that she would turn her back on men, follow the hunt and Artemis and live forever unless she fell in combat. Danielle smiled, she couldn't really see any down side to this. She would be going to America soon, the only reason that the hunters were in Britain in the first place was to hunt a nasty monster here that had been killing British demigods.

America was far enough away from her problems for her not to have to worry about it. At the moment she didn't care if all of Magical Britain collapsed to the ground, why would she care? Turn her back on men? She hadn't had any interest in them anyway. Live forever? She wasn't sure about that but decided to give it a try. Who knew, eternity with a goddess and hopefully her new sisters might be good for her.


	2. Titans Curse Part one

**Wow, thank you for all the positive reviews. Didn't think that this would be that popular, especially since no one has ever made a 'girl-who-lived' a Hunter of Artemis as well.**

**Okay, so I might have messed with the time line here. J.K. Rowling made Harry's first year in 1991 but that's too hard to coincide with Percy Jackson easily. I wanted to match everything up so I made Danielle and David born in 1992 and the attack on Godric's Hallow was on Halloween on 1993. That made Danielle joining the Hunt in the summer of 2005, making 2006 the year of the Lightning Thief and Prisoner of Azkaban. The Battle of Manhattan was in 2009, the same summer that the battle of Hogwarts would have taken place in Deathly Hallows in cannon.**

**Second, the blessing of Artemis and being partially immortal purged the horcrux out of Danielle's system. I never liked the main character being a horcrux so it's gone. Hecate might give her the power of Parseltongue back, maybe not, but that power is gone as well.**

**I got a review asking why Harry is named David here. Well, the thing is, the Potters are still alive so David grew up knowing thinking that he's the 'boy-who-lived.' He's not, but that's beside the point. James went back to his arrogant self that he was in his early years and Lily likes being to flaunt the fact that she gave birth to the 'chosen one' in the faces of all those snooty Purebloods. Yes, I realize that they are at least slightly out of character but this is Fanfiction, I can do what I want. Because of that, David is as arrogant and as conceited as Snape always thought Harry was. I don't want to associate Harry with being pampered and spoiled so I changed the name to David.**

**Oh, and it was Dorea and Charlus Potter that sacrificed themselves to save David and Danielle that Halloween night.**

**I don't own anything except for my original characters. Enjoy the story.**

**One Year Later **(summer after Prisoner of Azkaban)

The hunt was camped right outside Yellowstone National Park and had finished a search for a stray Chimera that had somehow wondered into town. Danielle was still surprised by the usefulness of the Mist, the mortals just thought that a large bear had been the one to destroy most of a gift shop.

Camp was up and everyone was relaxing as they always did after a hard mission. She had made friends with all of the hunters, accepting quickly that she had magic. It wasn't hard since most of them were demigods and had their own unique powers. Phoebe was a daughter of Ares and was probably the strongest in the group. She knew that Jessica was a daughter of Demeter and could trip monsters by making grass grow around their legs. The fact that she herself could shoot out bolts of energy to stun or blast monsters just made her one of them.

Everyone's good mood was ruined by the appearance of one of the hunts' least favorite people. A flash of light in the nearby woods caused Artemis to leave her tent, only to groan at the sight, "Apollo, I keep telling you to leave us alone."

Apollo, who looked like a standard handsome blond guy about the age of eighteen, just stepped out of the woods and smiled with teeth that were way too white. "Oh come on Arty, you know I love to surprise you with my surprise visits."

Artemis glared at him, "if you flirt with any more of my hunters…"

Apollo didn't hear her and turned to face the new one in the group, "well, well, a magic user here? Haven't met one of them for a while."

Danielle didn't know whether to flush red with anger or shoot this guy with an arrow. But since Apollo was the god of medicine, it probably wouldn't do much. She just glared at him as he approached, "hmm, a Potter, no less."

Danielle started to growl, "what's it to you sunshine?"

Most of the hunt laughed, Zoe and Artemis trying to conceal their laughter. Apollo didn't seem offended, on the contrary, he burst out laughing as well, "you've got spunk girl. Just wanted to let you know that you couldn't find a better group here. Oh, and I know you aren't a Potter anymore."

Danielle snorted, her arms crossed, "like I wanted to be one anyway."

Apollo shrugged, "true, by the way, just so you know, everyone in Magical Britain is looking for you."

Danielle gave him a deadpanned expression, "like I care. This is my home now and I'm not leaving."

Artemis and the hunters beamed at her, Apollo shrugged, "I personally don't care about them either. Though I think that your brother might be in danger soon…oh well. Have fun girl." He then vanished in a cloud of sparkles that made everyone gag.

Artemis sighed, "just great, beware Danielle, he likes you."

Danielle shrugged while Zoe grimaced, "just don't make him recite poetry."

Later that night, Danielle couldn't sleep. Unlike demigods, she didn't get dream messages or get plagued by nightmares all the time, she just couldn't sleep. Deciding to go for a walk, she left her tent and walked to the edge of camp. Jumping up to a high branch in a tree, she just looked around the woods, now knowing how peaceful looking Zoe appeared a year ago. She could see herself living in the woods for a long time, it was peaceful.

She had been in the hunt for a year, that would make her fourteen now. Though by the use of the hunter's blessing, she still looked thirteen and would for the rest of her immortality. She was still the newest hunter, but she got along well with everyone. Her archery had improved over the months, shooting an arrow was nothing like firing a spell but she was a quick learner.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Danielle had to stop herself from falling out of the tree. Looking around, she saw lady Artemis looking up at her from the ground.

Quickly jumping down to the ground as well, she made her apologies but Artemis waved them aside, "I understand, it must be hard hearing about your parents and brother."

Danielle liked how lady Artemis had called them 'parents' not 'family.' As far as she was concerned, the Potters had ceased to be her family a long time before she was disowned, "I honestly couldn't care less about them my lady."

Artemis nodded, "I understand of course, I have met many hunters with far worse family members than yours, but they are still family and they will hold us in our thoughts."

Danielle smirked, "like Apollo?"

Artemis rolled her eyes, "yes, him." She sighed, "the Olympians are divided right now. Something important was stolen from my father Zeus and he is blaming a son of Poseidon right now. It doesn't matter that this person had never been to Mount Olympus before in his life. But even now, they are still family."

Danielle nodded, she knew the Olympians were all related in some way, but most were not full siblings. Hades, most didn't even like each other. "I hope Lord Zeus gets what he is searching for. I take it we are not looking for it?"

Artemis shook her head, seemingly lost in thought, "no, my father wants the boy, Percy Jackson or something, to be the one to give it back to him. If he doesn't though, it would mean war between my father and uncles."

Danielle shook her head as well, "we can only hope that this Percy Jackson can do it."

**Two Years Later **(Summer after Order of the Phoenix)

Dumbledore couldn't believe what Voldemort had done. Not only had he just walked into the Ministry to get the prophecy, but he had also revealed in front of the whole magical world that David Potter wasn't the chosen one. He had gloated that David's sister, Danielle Potter, had been the one he had attacked on that fateful Halloween night.

Dumbledore sighed, why couldn't this be easy? He had spent years training the wrong Potter and Voldemort had used complex magic to prove that he was telling the truth. The whole Ministry had to accept that David's sister was the chosen one. The worst part was that he had no idea where Danielle was, it was if she had dropped off the ends of the earth and wasn't coming back. Not that he could blame her, not after everything they had done to her, but he had to find her and train her to face Voldemort.

He was currently in a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix in Grimmauld Place. He rubbed his temples together as both Lily Potter and Molly Weasley were shrieking how they had to find the 'poor dear' that was their only hope. David was understandably in shock while Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were confused.

Dumbledore finally couldn't take it anymore, "enough! This is not the time to argue amongst ourselves! First of all, I know that what Voldemort (cue shivers) had shown everyone in the Ministry was true. Danielle is the chosen one, and we need her back."

Lily started crying harder than she had been before, "we need to find her Albus! We need my baby back!"

Dumbledore found it unlikely that Danielle would want to return but continued, "first of all, we checked with both the Magical Records office and with Gringotts and she is still alive. The problem is that we have no idea where she is."

Moody banged his staff on the floor, "and I bet you won't find her now! I should know since I trained her up a bit myself when she was younger! Fair bit of power she had too."

Dumbledore looked at him, "do you know where she might have gone Alastor?"

Moody shrugged, "hell if I know. I knew of a few places we could have checked if she vanished last week, but this is three years ago Albus! She's long gone by now."

Dumbledore had expected that, but it didn't help his headache, "we have to assume she left the country then. I have a few contacts I could use but I have no idea how valid they would be after three years."

David just snorted, "we don't that bitch! You all have me!"

James responded to that by whacking him upside the head, "don't talk like that! We need to make amends to your sister."

Dumbledore just sighed, that sounded unlikely, but they could try if they found her.

******* (Six months later)*******

It was winter. Danielle had never liked the cold, ironic since she used to live in Britain, and she was dressed in a silver parka with the other hunters somewhere in Maine. They had gotten news that a powerful monster was nearby and had been working with mortals to help Kronos. She frowned, the Titan Lord of Time sounded like trouble that needed to be stopped as soon as possible.

The hunt managed to get to what looked like a huge castle that had been turned into a military school. Danielle was confused, weren't castles native to Europe? They had never really migrated to America.

Shaking off that thought, she found their monster, a manticore. The beast was pretty much just half human and half scorpion. She gripped her bow tighter, she hated creepy crawly things, scorpions included.

Lady Artemis was about to give the signal when she paused, the rest of the hunt saw why as the manticore had somehow managed to get three hostages. One was a boy about the age of ten with pale skin, black hair and was holding what looked like playing cards. Another looked like his sister, maybe twelve or so. She was wearing what looked like a green hat along with the school uniform her brother was wearing and seemed to want to hide as much as possible.

The third person also had black hair like the other two but he seemed more angry and frustrated with the situation than scared. He wasn't wearing the school uniform but he was a demigod, and a powerful one.

The manticore led them through the woods to a cliff overlooking the ocean. Danielle couldn't hear what they were talking about but they seemed to be arguing. The hunt got close enough to help in case things got ugly, which it did. Danielle wasn't sure what happened but three others appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Two girls and a satyr pulled out weapons and started to attack while the older demigod from before pulled out a sword and tried to help.

The demigods were doing pretty well but they couldn't keep it up. Lady Artemis gave the signal and opened fire on the monster. The manticore shouted insults and started shooting poisoned spikes out of its tail at the hunters. Danielle gritted her teeth, this was not going to plan.

Out of nowhere, a mortal helicopter rose from below the cliff, ready to help the manticore. Artemis was angry, "mortals are not allowed to witness my hunt." She waved her hand and the helicopter began to dissolve, it turned into a flock of ravens that flew into the night.

The Manticore grabbed one of the girls, a blonde, and shouted out, "I'll settle for this one, until next time!"

Danielle shot out a blasting curse at the monster but that only made it stumble down the cliff instead of jumping down. She groaned as she leaned against a tree, the monster got away, kidnapped a girl, and now she would be dealing with a few very confused demigods.

The older boy started to search frantically in search of the girl, even fighting against lady Artemis in the process, "let me go! I have to find her!" he had an alarmed look on his face, "let me go! Who do you think you are?"

Danielle winced, that wasn't the right thing to say. Zoe walked up to him "let me tell you, male, if it was not for the hunt-"

She was cut off by Lady Artemis, "Zoe, the boy is hurt and doesn't mean it." She turned to the hunt in general, "let's build camp here."

Camp was built in about ten seconds, which was a pretty average time but the older guy looked shocked. Danielle smiled as she made to feed the wolves, she had always had a connection with them for some reason.

She finished and turned to the others who were talking to the newcomers. The twelve year old girl was in shock, "who are you? What is going on here?"

Artemis turned to her, "the real question here is, who are you? Who are your parents?"

The girl and her brother turned to lady Artemis, "I'm Bianca and this is Nico, we're orphans. There is a bank trust in our name but…" She faltered when it looked like none of the people listening believed her, "I'm telling the truth!"

Zoe intercepted, "you are a demigod, one of your parents was one of the Olympians."

Bianca looked like she was in denial, "Olympian…athlete?"

Zoe shook her head, "one of the gods."

Nico's eyes widened, "cool!"

Bianca glared at him, "no, not cool!"

Nico wasn't listening and was jumping up and down in excitement, "does Zeus really have a lightning bolt that does six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points if…."

Bianca couldn't take it anymore, "Nico! This is not your stupid Mythomagic game! This is serious, there are no gods!"

Danielle snorted, "you've already met one, right Lady Artemis?"

Artemis gave a reassuring smile toward them and nodded. Bianca sat down on a rock, possibly going through mental overload.

The older girl walked up, "I'm sorry Bianca but they're telling the truth. The gods are still around; the life of a demigod is dangerous."

Bianca looked miserable by now, "dangerous, like that girl that was taken."

The guy flinched at the sound of that, Danielle figured that there was something between the two.

Even lady Artemis looked troubled, "do not despair for Annabeth, she is a strong and brave maiden. She will be found and returned."

The guy looked annoyed, "why won't you allow us to look for her?"

"She was taken, son of Poseidon. Some kind of magic is involved in this and it is not good. I do not know why or for what purpose, but your friend has vanished."

Nico started hopping up and down, "ooh, what about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome of how you shot him with arrows, is he dead?"

Danielle shook her head, "monsters can be killed but he will eventually come back. The manticore took your friend, he is weakened and injured but not defeated. That is why we keep hunting monsters…"

"Or else they will hunt you," finished the girl.

Bianca shivered, "that explains a lot. Remember Nico, those guys that tried to attack us in that alleyway?"

Nico nodded, "and that bus driver in Washington D.C. I told you there was something there, he had these big ram's horns."

The guy nodded, "that is why Grover here was in the school," he referred to the satyr, "he watches out for half-bloods like you two."

Bianca nodded, "Grover, you're a demigod?"

Grover shook his head, "ah, satyr actually." He kicked off his fake shoes to reveal his goat hooves. Bianca's face looked like she was about to faint.

The girl sighed, "Grover, put your shoes back on, you're freaking her out."

"Hey! My hooves are clean!"

The guy spoke up again, "Bianca, monsters like Dr. Thorn are only the beginning. That is why we have to take you to Camp. We can train you to defeat monsters like that."

"Camp?"

"Camp half-blood. It's where half-bloods learn to survive, you can even stay there year round if you want."

Nico smiled at that, "sweet, let's go!"

Bianca hesitated, "I don't think…"

Zoe smirked, "actually, there is another option…"

The girl growled, "no, there isn't!"

Zoe and the girl growled as they tried to glare each other down. Danielle had no idea what they were arguing about but figured it must be pretty bad.

Lady Artemis shook her head, "we've burdened these children enough. Zoe, tell everyone we will be here for a few hours. We will leave in the morning. Treat the wounded and get some hunters to retrieve our guest's belongings from the school."

Zoe nodded and left, still glaring at the girl.

"And Bianca, I would like to speak to you."

"What about me?" asked Nico.

Lady Artemis considered him, "why don't you show Grover your card game?" She turned to Grover, "as a personal favor for me."

Grover couldn't agree fast enough, "sure thing, come on Nico."

Grover and Nico left the area and started to talk about stats and hit points and a lot of other things that Danielle couldn't even begin to fathom.

Artemis turned to Danielle, "why don't you stay here with these two?" She gestured to the girl and guy, "you are probably the best when it comes down to males."

The guy looked annoyed again but it was probably directed more toward himself. Danielle nodded, "sure thing, I'll make sure they don't touch anything."

Artemis nodded with a smile and left with a still very confused Bianca.

As soon as Lady Artemis was in her tent with Bianca and the other hunters were out of out of earshot, the girl growled, "the nerve of those stupid hunters!"

The guy nodded, "I'm with you…"

"Oh, you're with me now! What happened back there? You were supposed to wait for me! If you had just waited for me! But no! You had to go off on your own, and now Annabeth is taken!"

The guy looked guilty enough but asked the girl, "why did you look like you wanted to attack that Zoe girl?"

The girl snorted, "we've met."

Danielle laughed, which got their attention, the girl was not amused, "what do you want?"

Danielle looked at the girl, she was probably fifteen or sixteen. She just looked, there was no other word for it, punk. The spiky black hair, chain jewelry, and make up, just made it work for her.

She got a good look at the guy too, her heart clenched slightly at the similiarties between him and her brother David. They both had the same messy black hair and green eyes. This guy though was more in shape, had a slight tan, and looked more mature.

Danielle walked up to them, "sorry, but I met Zoe a while back and she is probably one of the harshest against males. I'm Danielle, by the way."

The girl recovered first, "Thalia, now if you excuse me," she left the other two and started to clean her spear.

The guy shook his head, "I'm Percy, sorry but I'm dealing with something right now."

Danielle nodded, "your girlfriend?"

Percy stumbled, "girlfriend? No, we, we are just friends."

Percy and Danielle just looked at each other, he defensively, Danielle with a disbelieving and humorous look.

Finally, he sighed and bent down and picked up what looked like a baseball hat out of the snow. "Annabeth and I have been friends for a long time; she's had my back for a long time and now that she's been taken…"

Danielle nodded, she couldn't relate, but she did understand. Percy looked at her, "aren't you supposed to hate my guts on principle? You are a hunter of Artemis, right?"

Danielle laughed lightly, "I don't hate guys that much. True, a few guys probably ruined my life a few years ago but I found a new life with the hunters and I can get along with almost anyone."

Percy nodded and winced, it was then that Danielle noticed that he must still be suffering from the manticore attack. "I can heal that if you wish."

He nodded and Danielle waved her hand over his shoulder, muttering some healing spells. She had had to learn them to recover from some of her brother's bullying so she was pretty good at them.

Percy rolled his shoulder when she was done, "good as new. What was that?"

Danielle shrugged, "magic."

He seemed to accept that and they both lapsed into a peaceful silence. Thalia still looked angry, going from pacing around the wolves without fear and staring at the school. Danielle frowned slightly, it reminded her too much of Hogwarts, and the bad memories of that place. She was glad that she never had to go there again.

Nico and Grover came over, still talking about their game. Grover looked at Percy, "oh, sorry man, I forgot about your shoulder."

Percy shrugged it off, "it's fine, she healed it for me," he said, referring to Danielle.

Danielle nodded, "I learned some magic over the years."

Nico looked amazed, "can I do that?"

Danielle shook her head, "possibly, but I doubt I could teach you. I'm personally not a demigod so I'm not sure if our branches of magic are compatible."

Percy looked intrigued at that, "you're not a demigod?"

Danielle shook her head again, "no, lady Artemis doesn't care about things like that. Mortal, demigod, nymph, she'll allow anyone to join. More than I can say about that camp of yours," she smirked.

Percy grumbled while Grover nodded, they had to agree to that.

Nico meanwhile was looking through his bag that had been brought from the school. While there seemed to be some books, it was mostly filled with tiny figurines and cards for some sort of game.

Percy, looking like he needed something to distract him, commented, "big collection."

Nico nodded, looking proud of it, "I'm trying to collect them all. I've got almost all of them, even the holographic ones, well, except the really rare ones."

"You've been playing this game for long?"

"No, only this last year, before that I…" He frowned, "I can't remember, that's weird." He didn't look concerned for long, "can I see that sword of yours?"

Percy nodded and showed him his sword. A three foot long blade of celestrial bronze, "Riptide. It turns into a pen if I'm not using it."

Danielle nodded, "not bad for a son of Poseidon."

Nico agreed, "does it ever run out of ink?"

Percy looked taken aback, "well, I don't actually write…"

"Are you really a son of Poseidon?"

"Well, yeah."

"Can you surf really well then?"

Percy looked at Grover and Danielle for support, both were trying hard not to laugh.

"You know, I've never really tried."

Nico's questions never seemed to end with Percy. Did he fight a lot with Thalia since she was a daughter of Zeus? (He didn't answer that one.) If that Annabeth girl was a daughter of Athena, why didn't she know better than to get herself kidnapped? (Percy looked like he wanted to strangle him for that.) Was Annabeth his girlfriend? (He looked like he wanted to throw him to the wolves by then.)

At this point, Zoe came back, "Percy Jackson."

Danielle smiled, Zoe always tried to act as haughty as possible when there was a male around. She looked like Percy was cockroach she had to deal with for a little while; despite wanting to crush it.

"Come with me, lady Artemis would like to speak with thee."

She gave Danielle a look, as if wondering how she could deal with him for this long without losing her sanity, and they both left. Seeing that Nico was giving her the same look he gave to Percy before he questioned him, she turned around, "sorry, but I should go feed the wolves." Not caring that she had already fed them a little while ago.

She managed to find some work to do, thankfully. After restocking her arrow supply from the armory tent, she made small talk with her friend Jessica. She was the daughter of Demeter that had joined sometime in the seventies. They had both learned about the magical world early as she had a cousin who was a Muggle-born but she had never really learned about magic itself.

About an hour later, dawn was approaching and lady Artemis came up to them. Just like most of the hunt had expected, Bianca had a soft silvery glow like the rest of the hunters. Percy looked disappointed while Thalia looked downright furious and ignored Percy as much as possible. Bianca was talking to Nico, most likely explaining her choice to join the hunt. Nico looked upset but understanding at the same time. Poor kid, it would likely take a while for him to fully accept it.

Camp was taken down in a matter of seconds and the hunt gathered around Artemis as she faced east. Zoe came around to tell Danielle that they were headed to Camp Half-blood while lady Artemis was going hunting alone.

"Why? Surely there is strength in numbers?"

Zoe glanced at lady Artemis, "I do not know, but it is her wish to hunt a lone monster that could destroy Olympus. It could be that she does not want us holding her back."

Danielle didn't like it but she nodded, hopefully she could get the full story later. She faced east and waited for the sun to arrive. That only meant one thing; Apollo was going to give them a ride to camp. She had met him a few times after their first meeting and he was starting to be a lot like an annoying but cool cousin.

The sky finally began to lighten, Artemis muttered, "about time, he gets so lazy during the winter."

Danielle smiled, that would explain why the sun rose later in the winter than in the summer. Just like Persephone going down into the underworld caused the seasons.

Artemis, who was standing near Percy, seemed to know what he was thinking, "it's not what you think."

Percy seemed both relieved and confused, "so, he's not going to pull up in a…"

A blinding flash of light stopped him; Artemis groaned, "don't look, not until he parks."

The glow faded until what looked like a red sports car was visible. A perfect circle of melted snow around it where the grass was showing. Its metal so hot it glowed, it reminded Danielle of her godfather's flying motorcycle, only this was much cooler. Apollo himself simply jumped out of the car and walked up to the group. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt and loafers.

Danielle could hear Thalia mutter, "Man, Apollo is hot."

Percy didn't seem to get it, "he's the sun god."

Thalia rolled her eyes, "that's not what I meant."

"Arty! Little sister! How are you doing? We barely see each other anymore, I was getting worried." Apollo's bright smile was starting to blind the hunters and campers.

Artemis sighed, "I'm fine Apollo, and for the record, I'm not your little sister."

"I was born first."

"We are twins, and I helped our mother give birth to you! How many millennia do we have to go through…"

Apollo cut her off, "so, got the hunters here, you need some poetry classes?"

Lady Artemis looked annoyed, "I need a favor, I'm going hunting alone, I need a ride to camp for my hunters."

"Sure sis," he suddenly put up his hands to stop everything, "wait, I feel a haiku coming on."

In unison, the hunt groaned, Danielle had heard way too many of Apollo's poems.

"Green grass breaks through snow.

Artemis pleads for my help.

I am so cool."

He then held up his hands, as if waiting for applause.

"That last line only had four syllables," commented lady Artemis in a deadpan expression.

Apollo frowned, "did it? Hang on, I'm sure I'll get it."

The hunt groaned again, if Apollo didn't get it now, he would make them wait for hours.

Lady Artemis sighed again, "I am so pig-headed?" she suggested.

Apollo shook his head, "no that has six syllables." Still lost in thought.

Danielle volunteered, "how about, 'I am a doofus?"

Everyone either laughed or smiled, it was a running joke amongst the hunt that she and Apollo always had some verbal action against each other every time they met. Apollo seemed to actually consider that for a moment, "no, I can do this…I got it, 'I am so awesome.' There, that wasn't hard." No one considered his victory worth applause.

He shrugged, "oh well, my next will be better. Ah, Danielle, that was you before, right? How is one of my favorite hunters doing?"

Danielle rolled her eyes, "just fine Sunny, now get us to camp."

Apollo nodded and clapped his hands together, "perfect, now then, all aboard. I was about to roll when you called me for your hunters."

Artemis nodded, "you better take these demigods as well, some of Chiron's campers."

Apollo waved her off, "yes, yes, I got it, no problem." He looked at the hunters and campers and recognized Thalia, "ah, Thalia, daughter of Zeus, I've heard all about you."

Thalia blushed, "thank you Lord Apollo."

Apollo smiled, "good to hear you're back. It's always a shame when a pretty girl gets turned into a tree. I remember back in the day…"

Lady Artemis cleared her throat, "Apollo, maybe you should get going?"

"Right, right." He turned to Percy, "ah, Percy Jackson."

Percy looked nervous, "yeah, I mean…yes sir."

Apollo studied him for while, which seemed kind of creepy, but eventually turned away. "Well, shall we go then? Ride only heads west, miss it and you're sunk."

Nico looked hyped up again, "how are we going to fit?"

Everyone looked at his sport's car, it only had two seats. The problem was that there were about twenty passengers now. Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time, "ah, well, I hate to change out of the sports car model but…" He snapped his fingers and the car beeped twice, like the car alarm had set or something, but then a bright light covered it and when it faded, everyone was looking at a huge bus.

"Right, everyone in."

Everyone filed into the bus, Zoe made to grab her bag but Apollo got it first, "here you go sweetheart."

Zoe growled at him, eyes flashing dangerously before marching off to the bus.

Artemis glared at him as well, "a few rules Apollo, you do not flirt with my hunters. You do not call them 'sweetheart,' you do not even look at my hunters! Got that?"

Apollo quickly nodded, "yeah, I just forgot. Hey, where are you off to, anyway?"

Lady Artemis glanced at her brother, "hunting, none of your business."

Apollo shrugged, "I'll find out, I know all, I see all."

"Just drop them at camp Apollo. And no messing around!"

"No, no, I never mess around."

Lady Artemis rolled her eyes, "Zoe, you are in charge of the hunt. Do well, do as I would do."

Zoe nodded, "it will be done, milady."

Lady Artemis took a moment to gain the scent, and ran into the woods, vanishing into the shadows.

Apollo smiled and dangled his car keys, "so…who wants to drive?"

Danielle might be a hunter; she might even have magic and had seen crazy things throughout her life. She had even accepted that the magical world had lost most sense of reason. But she would never forget the stupid idea of Apollo deciding it would be a good idea to allow anyone other than him to drive his sun bus.

The only redeeming factor was that he put Thalia behind the wheel. She was the daughter of Zeus, lord of the sky; she could handle a flying bus. That turned out to be a mistake.

After sitting with her fellow hunters in the back of the bus, Apollo handed the keys to Thalia and she started the engine. Danielle had gone flying before, but that had been on a broom, many years ago at Hogwarts. She felt that this was going to be completely different.

As soon as Thalia had started up the engine, she floored the gas pedal, forcing the bus to zoom into the sky and made everyone not buckled in his or her seatbelts to fall over themselves. "Sorry! I can handle this!"

That didn't help matters, as the bus got too high into the air. She managed to make the bus plummet to the ground instead, but they came in too hot. Danielle grabbed her seatbelt for her immortal life, hoping she wouldn't get airsick. The ride was like a rollercoaster with no tracks and no way of knowing if they would land safely.

"Take the wheel!" Grover shouted to Apollo, who was trying to get to the front of the bus after zooming backwards into the back exit.

"No worries!" he yelled back. He looked plenty worried, "we just have to make it to Long Island, we just have to…whoa!"

Thalia had somehow got so low that the bus was skimming the roofs of people's houses. After setting a few on fire, she managed to pull up in time to graze a steeple on a church.

"There," yelled Apollo, "Long Island, the camp is in sight!"

"Brake!" yelled Percy.

Thalia slammed her foot on the brake pedal, which made the whole bus dip and crash into what looked like a canoe lake. The hot metal cooling in the water made a soft steam raise that covered everything. Several naiads had panicked and ran out of the lake, wicker baskets left unfinished as the bus bobbed up to the surface.

"Well," said Apollo happily and a little shakily, "you were right Thalia, you did have it under control. Now lets go out and see if we barbequed someone important, shall we?"

Danielle, like most of the hunters, walked dazedly out of the bus, trying to regain lost bearings. Once the nausea had worn off, she looked at Camp Half-blood for the first time. She had been told what it was like but this was her first time here.

The camp was huge. The Canoe Lake was off to one side while a large four-story house painted all in blue was off in the distance. There was a dining pavilion, armory, a sing-along amphitheater, and even a rock-climbing wall that was spewing real lava.

The strangest thing though was the assortment of cabins for the demigods while they were at camp. One was gold and was shining in the sunlight so it must have been Apollo's. One had grass for a roof while another was badly painted red with barbed wire around it.

Snow had been allowed to fall gently around the camp so the cabins were decorated for Christmas with little balls of light that were real flames.

Nico stumbled out of the bus, "whoa, is that a rock climbing wall?"

Percy nodded, "yeah it's…"

"Is that real lava coming out of it?"

"Yeah, just for a little extra challenge. Come on, I'll introduce you to Chiron, Zoe have you…"

Zoe cut him off, "I know Chiron, tell him we will be in cabin eight. Hunters, follow me."

They were just about to leave the area when Grover ran after them, "I'll show you the way!"

"We know the way."

"No, really." Grover fell over himself in his attempt to help, but he got up, still talking, "it's a little confusing the first time you're here. Just like my grand-daddy goat used to say."

Zoe eventually accepted his help, feeling that the only way to get rid of him would be to humor him for now. The hunters shouldered their packs and they headed off to cabin eight. Apollo yelling after them, "take care sweethearts!"

The hunters grumbled as they continued to make their way to the cabins. They still saw a large red sports car fly into the sky though.

Danielle had been told about the camp, how it was usually only for the summer with a few year-rounder's, but the place still felt empty. There were a few Ares campers having a snowball fight with a few dryads, and a few others around but that was it. She felt that the arrival of the hunt might have doubled the population of this place.

Grover was running commentary for everything at camp, which was interesting to Danielle and Bianca, but pretty much worthless to the other hunters. "I'm telling you, those dryads can throw a mean snowball. But I'm sure you know that already, you love nature, I love nature, it's like we are meant to be."

Grover winked at Zoe, which wasn't the best thing to do. Zoe glared at him and slapped him across the face so he stumbled back a little. Phoebe didn't like it when someone came on to their lieutenant so she punched him in the face for good measure. When Grover stood up, he still looked delighted to be in their presence, and after saluting them, ran off with the slap mark clearly visible along with his new black eye.

Bianca leaned close to Danielle, "that happen a lot with you guys?"

Danielle smiled, "that was pretty tame compared to what I've seen. I'm the newest, apart from you though, so I'm sure they are capable of much worse."

Bianca looked nervous but nodded.

Cabin eight looked normal on the outside but on the inside, it was decorated nicely. The cabin was big enough to house enough beds for all of the hunters and then some. There were two doors on the opposite end of the wall; one led to lady Artemis' private room if she was staying at camp while the other was a bathroom. The walls held scenes of forests, animals in movement, and featured a deer that was sacred to Artemis.

Once all of the hunters had claimed a bed, Zoe got their attention. "I am sorry for our visit here but lady Artemis insisted. I told a few of thou already but I shall do so again, lady Artemis is off hunting for a monster that is capable of bringing all of Olympus down."

A few hunters looked nervously at each other at that, "our lady has decided to hunt alone so we are here, presumably, for our own protection."

There were a few noises of protest but Zoe waved them down, "believe me, it wasn't my idea. We are here until our lady is finished so we have to make the best of it. Dinnertime is at six if my memory is correct, so you may all do whatever thy wishes until then."

The hunters, still grumbling, nodded and left the cabin after leaving their things on their bunks. Most went to the archery range but Danielle was pulled back by Miranda, daughter of Hermes who joined in the nineteen thirties. "How about some basketball?"

There were a few courts around, and Danielle had never really played, so she agreed. The hoop reminded her of Quidditch but she got over it quickly, she had never really been a fan of the game. With a nice two on two, she and Miranda against two other hunters named Crystal and Francine, they played a nice game. Training in the hunt made the ball even easier to get through the hoop and the points racked up.

They were about half an hour into the game when some son of Ares walked up to them. "Pretty good, but I'm sure I can take your interest off that game."

All four hunters turned to glare at him, "I'm sure," commented Miranda sarcastically.

"We don't need this," said Crystal, "just go back to your sword training."

"And here I thought that this was a nice camp," said Danielle, dryly.

The guy glared at them and pulled out his sword, "I'm pretty sure you said no to me."

Francine grinned, "It wasn't that hard. You're head is full of rocks."

He growled, and swiped his sword at Francine, but she somehow managed to block the blow with the basketball she was holding. She and the guy traded some blows until Thalia showed up, "alright! You there!" She pointed at the Ares camper, "leave them alone, we have capture the flag tomorrow so you guys can fight then."

Since Thalia looked ticked off about something, and she was the daughter of Zeus, the Ares guy backed off.

No one felt like basketball anymore after that, it didn't help that the ball was now full of holes made by sword slashes. Danielle sighed as she started to explore the camp. Bianca seemed to notice and decided to follow, Danielle looked at her, "bored?"

Bianca shook her head, "no, of course not. It's just a little hard to wrap my mind around this."

Danielle nodded, "I bet, I lived around magic my whole life so accepting the gods was pretty easy, but living a relatively normal life before this…"

They fell into a peaceful silence and spent the time before dinner exploring. Bianca finally braved a question, "what were your parents like?"

Danielle tightened her hand into a fist, "they…weren't the best. Imagine parents that would ignore one sibling for another until he was a lazy idiot. Then imagine those same parents disowning that ignored sibling and throwing them out of the house."

Bianca winced, "that sounds horrible."

Danielle nodded, "yeah, but, I have the hunt now. We all have some sort of sob story so that's what brings us together as a family."

Bianca smiled, "yeah, I joined to get away from Nico for a while. Don't get me wrong, I love him and everything, but he's a handful and I had to be the one to take care of him."

"And when you got an opportunity to do something just for yourself, you jumped at it?"

"Yeah, just wish I knew who my parents were."

Danielle frowned, "you don't even know your mortal parent?"

Bianca tried to concentrate, "no, everything past a year ago is blurry. Nico is the same way."

Danielle gave her a reassuring smile, "I'm sure you'll find out eventually."

Bianca smiled, "yeah."

Dinner was awesome. The hunt had a moving kitchen so it was possible to cook anything one wanted. Camp Half-blood had special plates and goblets that filled with whatever food and drink the person asked for. After giving some of their food to the gods, everyone dug in.

The Artemis table was the most rowdy that night, everyone was laughing and joking while Bianca was learning how to arm wrestle from Phoebe. She lost every time but that didn't seem to dissuade her. Looking around, Danielle saw that Nico was at the Hermes table, who were trying to teach him to play poker. Percy and Thalia however were alone at the Poseidon and Zeus tables.

Chiron the centaur stood up from the head table and welcomed the hunters of Artemis. Announced that the 'good will' capture the flag game was the next day and bade everyone for an early night.

The next morning, Danielle woke up way too early. Looking at the clock in the cabin, she saw it was only three in the morning but Zoe was wide-awake and looked panicked. She was gasping so loudly that she had awoken the entire cabin.

Phoebe, the second in charge, looked at Zoe worried, "what did you dream?"

Zoe looked like she was having a hard time getting the cabin into focus, "nightmare. Lady Artemis, captured."

That was all it took for the hunt to exchange uneasy looks. Demigod dreams were almost always prophetic, if something happened in one, than it most likely happened.

Zoe got up, "I have to see Chiron! We have to save our lady!"

No one disagreed and let her leave the cabin to the big house. Needless to say, none of them got any more sleep that night. When Zoe returned, she just said that they had to stay where they were.

Phoebe snorted, "is Chiron mad? We have to save lady Artemis."

Zoe nodded sadly, "I know. But Chiron told me that we are to remain here until lady Artemis tells us otherwise."

Danielle glared at the wall, "how can she if she is kidnapped?"

Zoe nodded again, "that is what I said. The best thing we can do is watch and wait. If the opportunity to leave arises, then we go, until then, we cannot do anything."

None of them seemed to like that, but they didn't have any other choice. One by one, everyone tried to sleep, but found it was impossible, their goddess was taken and Zeus knows what was happening to her now.

When it became light enough to go to breakfast, it was a very subdued group that sat down at the Artemis table. There were no red eyes or signs of crying but it was obvious that everyone in the hunt was depressed.

The schedule for the day was the same as the one previous. The hunt was allowed to do whatever they wanted until dinner and capture the flag that afternoon. Danielle wasn't planning on it but somehow found herself at the canoe lake that morning. The water a dark murky gray color due to the overcast sky.

A sound in the distance brought her attention but it was only Thalia, who looked tired, "why can't I find a decent place to be alone for a while?"

Danielle smiled, "sorry but I was here first."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a moment; Thalia finally couldn't take it anymore, "Grover told Percy and I about Zoe's dream."

Danielle rolled her eyes, "great, a stalker goat."

Thalia chuckled, "sorry, but Grover and I go way back. He was the one to bring me here, Percy too but I'm focusing on me now."

Danielle laughed, "so, Grover?"

Thalia nodded, "yeah, he brought myself, Annabeth and another friend here. Only, there were a lot of monsters after us and I kind of sacrificed myself to save them. My dad turned me into a pine tree to stop me from dying."

Danielle shook her head, "a pine tree…why not? I've heard stranger things by reading those old stories and hanging around the hunt."

Thalia chuckled again, "I came back this last summer. That was weird, one minute I'm dying, the next, I'm fine and seven years had passed."

"Definitely strange."

Their conversation was stopped when a burst of fire appeared about five feet away from them. Thalia brought out her spear but Danielle held out her hand, "wait."

The fire died away to reveal magnificent swan sized scarlet and gold bird. Danielle cursed, "of course, what else could ruin my day?"

Thalia's eyes widened, "is that…"

Danielle nodded, "yeah, a phoenix, and I only know one person that has one." She went up to the bird, "hello Fawkes, is the old man still a manipulative jerk?"

Fawkes trilled sadly and held out a letter attached to his legs.

Danielle untied the letter, "thanks, but I'm not going back."

Fakes just looked at her sadly but nodded like he understood before flashing away in another burst of flames.

Thalia looked at the letter as if it would explode, "who do you know that has a phoenix and would use it to send notes?"

Danielle shrugged, "my old school headmaster, now let's see what he wants."

Opening the letter, she read it and knew it would not be good.

_Dear Ms. Potter,_

_I was most distressed to hear what happened to you three and a half years ago. Rest assured, the utmost care is being used to register you again in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_Your parents are truly sorry for what they have done and would like to make amends. If you are wiling, please send a note via Fawkes when he comes back in a week to make arrangements to come back to Britain. There is more, but it would be better to meet face to face in case this letter is intercepted._

_Awaiting your reply,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

Danielle had to read the short letter twice to realize it was not a joke. Growling, she balled the letter and threw it into the air over the lake where a fire spell caused it to incinerate before it hit the water. "Three and a half years old man, where were you?"

Dumbledore had ignored her for her whole life, now he wanted to apologize? He could have tried harder to keep her in Hogwarts, he could have forced her parents to spend time with her, or at least remind them they had two children. No, Danielle was done with him and his stupid rules.

She was so lost in thought, she forgot about Thalia's presence, "don't like this old man?"

Danielle shook her head and closed her eyes, "too close to my parents. They want me back huh? Too little, too late. I have a new family now and I'm never going back."

She turned around and headed to the sword arena, she had an idea for a new spell and needed to work it out before she met something big that needed to be torn to pieces, like Dumbledore for instance.

Later that afternoon was the capture the flag game between the hunters and the campers. The Artemis table had been subdued for the whole day but now it felt real resentment toward the camp. Zoe was glaring at Chiron, as if disbelieving that she was being forced to do this. Percy was also glaring at the hunters for some reason but Danielle had some resentment at a senile old man to burn off.

She had spent most of the afternoon trying to perfect her new spell but it just fizzled out every time she activated it. She would have to work out the bugs before a major battle.

The capture the flag game would be held in the woods beside the camp. About thirteen or fourteen hunters and the same number of campers so they were evenly matched, at least through numbers. According to Zoe, the hunt hadn't lost a game of capture the flag in centuries and it wasn't going to be broken now.

The hunt was dressed in red armor, the campers were dressed in blue, and even though it was the last thing they wanted to do, they didn't have a choice. Zoe sighed and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath.

"Okay, here is the plan. Bianca, you guard the flag. Half of you prepare traps to distract or disable the campers, the other half are with me to get the flag. Jessica, use grass or plants to slow or trip them, whatever. Danielle, use stunners to knock them out, I take it that it leaves a headache for the victim."

Danielle grinned and nodded, "on it." Jessica also looked psyched; this was an excellent distraction from their problems.

When both sides were ready, Chiron banged his hooves against the floor of the pavilion, "Heroes! You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team- Camp Half-blood- gets the west woods. Hunters of Artemis-red team-get the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions."

Zoe led the hunters forward and they dived into the woods. Danielle felt that if the campers wanted to win, they wouldn't use the woods. The hunt spent most of their time in woods just like these, knowing all the tricks made this a no brainer. After about ten minutes of setting up traps and finalizing plans, the conch horn blew to start the game.

Danielle was part of the defensive team, so she was given orders to shoot any campers on sight. She was forced to use either blunt arrows that would not kill but leave some nasty bruises, and stunners. Jumping up into a tree near the creak, she summoned her bow and waited for the campers to show up.

It wasn't until about ten minutes after the game started that the first campers started to appear. She frowned, she didn't know if a stunner could get past Greek armor but it would be better to know now rather than later, and she still had her bow.

Nodding to Crystal in the tree next to her, their plan started. The group of campers that had appeared was only about four strong so it wasn't too much trouble. Waving her hand in their direction, she used some wandless silencing charms on them. Smirking, she saw that one camper tried to say something but found that they couldn't make a sound.

Two more hunters, Selene and Jessica, landed in front of them silently and took them out with no problem, as the campers were panicking after finding out they couldn't talk. Selene and Jessica saluted Danielle before jumping up to their previous hiding spots.

A larger group of campers came through the trees, led by Thalia, appeared about thirty to forty meters to the left of the first group that had come through. Knowing that the same trick wouldn't work twice, the hunters had to fight them head on. Thalia turned and spotted the unconscious bodies of her fellow campers. Realizing that she would just fight harder now, the three hunters closest to the group dropped from the trees, hunting knives flashing in the sunlight.

Thalia's group was the biggest squad of campers to come through but several others tried to run past the creek. The hunters in the trees started firing blunt arrows and even the occasional fart arrow.

Thalia was somehow still fighting and had gotten the furthest past the hunters but had gotten distracted by something, "Percy! What are you doing?"

Looking around, Percy had somehow gotten their flag and was running toward the creek. The only reason the campers hadn't won already was that another hunter, Gertrude, had shot a zip line and had tripped Percy, causing him to fall into the snow.

Danielle saw her chance and fired one of her own fart arrows at Thalia's feet, releasing a cloud of smoke that smelled of sulfur. Thalia coughed, "no fair, fart arrows are un-sportsman like!"

Danielle mentally shrugged, not like she cared. Unfortunately, Percy got up and started running again. Getting everyone's attention, they all started to aim solely at Percy, Danielle even started shooting stunners at him but it wasn't enough. Crystal even slashed at him with her knife but he blocked it and kept running.

The hunt then started cheering when Zoe came out of nowhere; flag in hand, running toward the creek. Several campers tried to catch up to her but she was too fast. Like a cheetah, she jumped over the creek and slammed into Percy for good measure. A conch shell blasted in the distance and Chiron walked into the scene.

"The hunters win! For the fifty-sixth time in a row," he didn't sound happy about it but it was understandable since his campers had lost.

As the hunt gathered around Zoe, Thalia stormed up to Percy, "PERCY! What in the name of the gods WERE YOU THINKING!"

A few hunters smiled at the sight of a guy being yelled out.

Percy glared at her, "I got their flag, Thalia! I saw a chance and I took it!" He brandished the flag he was still holding under her nose.

"I almost had it! I got to their base and I saw it was gone! If you hadn't have butted in, we would've won!"

Danielle and a few other hunters snorted, in her dreams.

Percy wouldn't back down though, "you had too many on you!"

"Oh, so it's my fault?"

"I didn't say that."

"Augh!" Thalia was so angry that she pushed Percy away; unfortunately, she lost some control of her lightning powers and sent a shock through Percy, sending him flying about ten feet away. A few hunters sniggered.

Percy got up quickly and everyone could see the burned mark on his clothes. Thalia looked pale, "Percy, I, I didn't mean to…"

Percy glared at her and his eyes flashed. Next second, a large wave of water crashed into Thalia, soaking her from head to foot. "Yeah, me either."

Chiron stepped forward, "enough!"

Neither Percy nor Thalia seemed to hear him as Thalia brought out her spear, making it pulse with electricity, "you want some seaweed brain!"

Percy flinched a little at the name but recovered quickly, "bring it on, Pinecone Face!" He raised his sword but was slammed with a huge bolt of electricity, sending him flying again.

"Thalia! That is enough!" yelled out Chiron.

Percy stood up and made the whole creek rise into a big tidal wave, ready to slam into the daughter of Zeus.

"Percy!" Chiron pleaded.

Suddenly, the water crashed onto the ground again, Percy's eyes in shock. Thalia, surprised, turned and everyone saw a sight that was both creepy and strange.

Chiron muttered, "impossible, she hasn't left the attic in years."

A figure was walking through the woods, a shriveled up mummy in a tie-dye shirt and what was probably hippie love beads. Everyone just stared at the sight, as the mummy seemed to look at Percy for a moment before focusing on Zoe.

In a voice that reminded everyone of hissing snakes, the mummy spewed out a little green smoke as it spoke, _"I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python."_

The mummy walked closer to Zoe, _"Approach Seeker, and ask."_

Zoe gulped, whether in shock or fear, no one knew, "what must I do to help my goddess?"

More green smoke spewed out of the oracle's mouth, the smoke started to make the ghostly image of a mountain. A girl that was definitely Artemis was standing on the summit but she seemed to be chained and was in obvious pain, even if she was locked in a pose that suggested that she was ready for an attack. The Oracle spoke again:

Six shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and hunters combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

The green smoke started to coil and re-entered the mummy's mouth like a giant snake. The Oracle then sat down, like she would sit by the creek for the next hundred years.

After the stunned silence, Chiron called an immediate council meeting. Percy and Grover were given the duty to return the oracle to the attic, which neither seemed enthusiastic to do so, and everyone that was not a councilor was forced to go through the day's activities.

Zoe dragged Bianca with her to the meeting while Phoebe, as second in command, took the opportunity to assign them activities, mostly to get their minds off of their goddess.

The rest of the day was tense for the hunters, knowing that lady Artemis was in danger and not doing anything was hard, especially for them. The only good thing was that most of the campers were counselors at the meeting so the hunters had most of the camp to themselves until it was over.

The meeting only lasted about an hour and seeing that Zoe and Bianca were free, the hunt gathered around her in the Artemis cabin. Zoe looked annoyed, "the good news is that four of us are allowed to go and rescue lady Artemis. The bad news is that Thalia and that irritating satyr are coming as well. Chiron wished it was even between campers and hunters but I was able to talk them down."

The hunt nodded and Zoe continued, "I am going, naturally, I also wish for Bianca and Phoebe to come. The only thing I want to do not know is who would be the fourth?"

The hunters looked at each other, Francine spoke, "we should ask ourselves, who would be the most use on a quest to rescue our lady?"

Zoe nodded, "indeed, Phoebe is our best tracker and this is a perfect opportunity for Bianca to prove herself."

Bianca looked at all the hunters, "what about Danielle?"

Danielle's eyes widened, "I am sure that there are other, more experienced hunters that would be of more use."

Zoe seemed to like the idea though, "but, thou can do magic. Thy powers are truly versatile and would do a lot of good in many situations."

The other hunters were warming up to the idea as well. Danielle glared lightly at Bianca before conceding, "very well, anything to help our goddess."

Zoe nodded, "excellent, we leave at sunrise tomorrow. Oh yes, Phoebe, I was able to get thou that t-shirt thou were looking at."

Phoebe grinned as she took the silver t-shirt Zoe handed her that read ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002. It had a list of various national parks underneath.

Zoe sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "we should prepare for our journey, pack anything that might be needed."

The rest of the day was spent in a flurry of excitement as the ones going on the quest picked up Ambrosia, nectar and various other things that might come in handy. Danielle spent the day going over all the spells she knew, hoping that one would be useful while searching.

The next morning, everyone was up before dawn. Zoe, Phoebe, Danielle and Bianca showered and got dressed, while going over last minute provisions. The quiet morning was broken by multiple grunts of discomfort. Looking around, everyone saw that Phoebe was wearing the silver t-shirt from yesterday and scratching like crazy.

Zoe looked concerned, "Phoebe, are thou alright?"

Phoebe was going crazy, "what is wrong with this shirt? It itches like crazy and is starting to burn!" Finally ripping off the shirt, it was revealed that she was covered in hives and painful looking welts.

Bianca looked sick, "what is that?"

Zoe looked at Crystal and Danielle, their two top healers, "thou can heal her, right?"

The two hunters looked at each other, they nodded, "everyone out, we have some work to do."

It didn't take long for everyone to be convinced to leave and the two girls got to work. As a daughter of Apollo, Crystal was used to healing magic and Danielle's healing spells could heal all but the most serious wounds. Getting Phoebe to corporate was hard, but they managed to get her to lie mostly still on her bed.

Crystal started chanting in ancient Greek while Danielle pulled out her wand and started reciting healing spells. The combination of Greek and Latin was strange but it did have some affect. The welts started to vanish but the hives refused to leave. Taking a break after half an hour, Crystal looked at the abandoned t-shirt; she was outraged at what she saw.

"Centaur's blood! This whole shirt is covered in it!"

Danielle was tired as well but at least Phoebe was sleeping now, "I take it that's bad?"

Crystal nodded angrily, "it's like acid! It burns the skin like crazy, we're just lucky that it this batch was diluted enough to just highly irritate the skin and not kill her. Must have been some sort of prank."

Danielle nodded and sat down, "well, she's not going anywhere like this. Even with both of us combined, it would take about a week until she's up to moving around again. And that's if we both combined our powers for days, and we don't have that kind of time."

Crystal nodded and sat down as well, "you will have to just save lady Artemis without her. I'll take care of her in the meantime, you go tell Zoe and Bianca."

Feeling bad that she couldn't fully heal Phoebe, Danielle left the cabin and made her way around camp. It was only now just starting to get light. Finding Zoe and Bianca at the dining pavilion, she sat down next to them, "centaur's blood. We tried everything but she won't be moving again for a while."

Zoe nodded, like she had figured it out herself, "yes, I was just telling Bianca. We also decided to not pick someone else for this quest."

Danielle frowned in confusion, "why? We need as many people as possible to save lady Artemis."

Zoe sighed, "it's just…it's just a feeling. Like we are not supposed to choose someone else. I do not want to ask Chiron for a camper and I do not want to risk another hunter."

Danielle didn't really know what to make of demigod feelings and intuitions but had learned to trust them, "alright, but we should go soon."

Bianca hesitated, "Zoe, you should tell her and Thalia about that dream you had…"

Zoe shook her head, "no, it would not help."

"But if your dream was right, about the General…"

"Enough!" snapped Zoe, she looked scared and worried, "let's go to Chiron and get out of here, dawn is breaking."

All three hunters started to run toward the big house but Zoe stopped at something, frowning and going for her bow.

"Come on, the lights in the big house are on," shouted Bianca.

Zoe glanced at the same spot again and ran off as well.

Thalia, Grover and Chiron met them on top of Half-blood hill with some blond surfer guy. The only thing strange about the new guy was that he had hundreds of eyes on his body. On his arms, legs, even the back of his neck.

Chiron smiled as they approached, "ah, good." He did a head count, "there is one missing."

Zoe glared at him, "thy campers poisoned Phoebe with thy t-shirt."

Chiron looked troubled, "I did not know, but the prophecy stated that six would go west, not five."

Zoe crossed her arms, "I refuse to allow another camper to come, and I also got the feeling that I should not allow another hunter to come. This group will suffice."

Chiron still looked unsure but conceded, "very well, Argus here has allowed you to take the camp van." The blond surfer guy nodded and gave them a thumbs-up.

Thalia looked at Grover, "you can see which path for us to take, right?"

Grover, who had been staring at the hunters, had to shake himself. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I got the acorns."

Danielle mouthed the word 'acorns' and looked at him, expectantly. Grover shrugged and threw some acorns on the ground while saying something in ancient Greek. The pattern the acorns fell in didn't make sense to her but Grover nodded, like some sort of secret was revealed.

"Alright, according to this, we have to go south first, to…" He frowned, "to Washington D.C.?"

Thalia raised an eyebrow, "you sure?"

Chiron studied the acorns as well, "yes, it does say that. I don't know as much woodland magic as I like to admit, but it does say that is your first stopping point."

Zoe nodded, "very well, I will drive."

Thalia glared at her, "hang on, I look closer to driving age than you, I should drive."

Zoe gave her a look that clearly said, 'NO!' and got into the driver's seat of the van. Bianca and Danielle shrugged at each other and got into the back with Grover while Thalia got shotgun. Danielle had to admire the normalness of the van, aside from Apollo's flying sun bus and the Knight Bus in Britain, this was the first real mortal vehicle she got to travel in. It was also the first that didn't make her want to lose her lunch.

It turned out that Zoe was a good driver, but also liked to go on the fast side. Danielle couldn't help but stare at the signs of consumerism as they got onto the highway. The magical world had nothing like this and the hunt didn't really spend a lot of time on normal mortal roads. It was strange seeing the lighted signs for Starbucks and McDonalds as they drove past them.

Thalia kept giving Zoe glares but she seemed to either ignore them, or had become immune. Grover pulled out his reed pipes and started to lightly play a few bars of something to get everyone's spirits up.

Danielle now had plenty of time to think about things. Dumbledore had contacted her about something important, not just about her parents wanting to apologize to her. Well, she wasn't going to forgive them anytime soon but the implied threat to the magical world was there. She mentally snorted, she knew Dumbledore. He would preach about forgiveness and giving people second chances but he wouldn't enter the fight himself unless he had no other choice.

The only thing she could think of was that Voldemort had come back, which sounded likely if that cursed diary she had faced in her second year was any indication. She would have to ask Hades about that if she had the opportunity.

She still didn't know what to do about her parents. Even if they were sorry and wanted her back, she couldn't just leave the hunt and go back to Britain. She had a new life and was thriving in this different environment. She would also have to deal with the fact that she was thirteen forever, which alone would be a headache to explain. Knowing Dumbledore, he would automatically assume the worst and claim that it was dark magic, not even considering the possibility that there were gods and goddesses out there.

Next to her, Bianca was nervous and was checking and double checking all of her things. Danielle had to say, she looked good as a hunter. She didn't hide her face behind her hair or her hat anymore and looked much healthier, like she had been working out. Danielle smirked, that was the immortality for you.

They didn't stop until they reached a rest stop in Maryland. After parking the car, Zoe and Thalia led the way into a nearby convenience store. After picking up some essentials, aka, candy bars, they were making their way to back to the van. "So, we're on the right track for lady Artemis, right Grover?" asked Bianca.

Grover nodded, "the acorns never lie."

They were walking out of the store now, "you sure Grover?" asked Thalia.

"Well…ninety-five percent sure, okay, maybe about eighty-five percent."

Bianca looked as skeptical as Danielle did, "and you did this with acorns?"

Grover looked hurt, "it's a time honored tracking spell, I think I did it right."

Bianca looked distant, "D.C. is about sixty miles from here. Nico and I…" she frowned, "we used to live there…that's strange, I can't remember."

Zoe looked troubled, "I dislike this, we should head straight west, like in the prophecy. Danielle, I doubt that you know of a tracking spell of your own?"

Danielle shook her head, "I know of one but I would have to put the first part of the spell on the person or item I want to track. Good for finding lost items but bad for trying to find a lost goddess."

Zoe nodded, like she had expected that, "very well, but I still dislike this."

Thalia snorted, "Like your tracking skills are any better."

Zoe went up into Thalia's face; "you challenge my skills as a hunter, you scullion? You know nothing about being a hunter!"

Thalia's face started to turn red, "Scullion? You're calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?"

Danielle, who had learned a lot about old English words and phrases from being around Zoe for a while, told her, "Essentially, she called you a poor maid that lived in the time of the renaissance."

Thalia looked confused, like she didn't know how to react to that, so she grabbed Grover and stomped off to the van in a huff. Bianca and Danielle looked at each other and at Zoe. They were both very curious by now, "why does Thalia hate you so much?"

Zoe rolled her eyes as she made her way to the van, "it is a long story, one that we do not have the time for."

That didn't settle their curiosity but they didn't push the issue and in a moment, they were on the road and on their way to D.C. again.

About an hour later, Zoe parked on the curb in downtown D.C. and everyone got out. Grover looked around at the big buildings, "it's one of these buildings here, the clue we need to find."

Zoe looked skeptical but agreed to follow him. Thalia had no problem with following Grover and ran after him, Bianca and Danielle bringing up the rear. Bianca told her about some of the buildings and what they had been when she had lived there, but apparently a lot had changed. According to her, some buildings had different stores since the last time she had been there while some new ones had been built where old buildings had been.

Danielle smiled as she looked around, they were at the capital of America, she toyed with the idea that she should dislike the place due to her British background. She mentally shrugged; the American capital was Philadelphia during the American Revolution, not D.C.

Grover led them to a big square building next to the mall that said, NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUESEUM. Thalia looked at him, "the Smithsonian?"

Grover shrugged, "hey, I'm just reading the acorns, they led us here. Besides, there is a monster scent here, maybe lady Artemis stopped here before she was godnapped?"

No one had a better idea and the place didn't seem to be busy so they walked in. School was out and it was freezing outside, so they had the place mostly to themselves. Altering the Mist so they didn't have to pay admission, they started looking at the various exhibits. The place had three stories, with huge spacecrafts hanging on wires from the ceiling while various other ships and planes were on display.

Zoe grinned at the mention of the space program dedicated to colonizing the moon. For some reason, it kept breaking down, it was not like a certain moon goddess disliked the idea of mortals on her property and had cursed the program or anything like that.

After searching for about half an hour, and Danielle wondering if Apollo had blessed the Apollo shuttles or not, they hadn't found anything. Grover frowned, "I know I smelled a monster, but I don't see one here."

Ready to leave and try the acorn trick again, they started to leave but a sudden blur ran into Thalia as she was walking down the stairs. Bows out, all three hunters had taken aim at the newcomer, only to find that it was Percy. Grover bleated in surprise but Percy had gone cross-eyed, trying to keep the arrows on him in focus.

Zoe growled and didn't put down her bow, "You! How dare you show thy face here!"

Grover sighed in relief, "Percy, thank goodness." Zoe turned to glare at him and he backtracked, "uh, I mean, you shouldn't be here."

Percy was still panting, "Luke, he's here!"

Thalia was alert instantly, all anger forgotten, "what! Where?" she started fingering her bracelet that held her shield.

Percy managed to get out his story, "followed you guys here, saw doctor Thorn, the manticore from before. Tailed him and saw Luke and some guy calling himself the General."

Zoe looked stunned at the mention of the General, "the General is here? That is impossible! You lie!"

Percy didn't back down, "why would I lie? And there are these skeleton warriors."

"What!" yelled Thalia, "how many?"

"About a dozen, and that's not all, the General said something about a 'playmate' to keep us occupied, a monster!"

Grover looked worried and told Percy that they had been tracking down the scent of the monster that Artemis was hunting.

Bianca looked at Zoe, "Zoe, if the General is here…"

Zoe looked scared, "no, it's impossible. Percy must have seen some Iris message, or had a hallucination or something."

Danielle didn't know what they were talking about but figured that then wasn't the time as she glanced at the ground floor, "uh, guys."

No one paid her any attention as they continued to argue, "hallucinations don't break marble floors!"

Zoe took a deep breath, as if trying to calm herself, "if Percy is right about the skeleton warriors, they are the worst…we need to leave, now!"

"Good idea," said Percy.

Zoe glared at him, "I was not including thee, boy!"

Danielle's eyes widened as she continued to look at the ground floor, "guys."

Thalia walked up to Zoe, "who are you to decide something like that? You are not the leader on this quest, Zoe. I don't care how old you are! You are still a whining little brat!"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT!"

Danielle pointed to the bottom of the stairs where they saw the monster. Everyone backed up as one little boy yelled out, "kitty!"

The beast that was currently bounding up the ramp toward them was no kitty. The huge claws, the fangs, and the fact it was as big as a pick-up truck squashed that hope.

Thalia looked faint, "the Nemean Lion, don't move."

The lion gave a huge roar that parted everyone's hair; fangs gleaming.

"Separate on my mark," said Zoe, "try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover whimpered.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

Percy uncapped Riptide while Grover started playing on his reed pipes. Danielle, Zoe, and Bianca jumped onto the Apollo capsule and started raining arrows, all shattering harmlessly on the lion's fur.

Danielle fired a few reductor curses as well but they just bounced off, just like the arrows. "Wasn't the lion's fur impenetrable from any weapon back in the old stories?" She remembered that Heracles had strangled the beast to death with his bare hands.

Zoe grunted in response and fired arrows at it's eyes, "indeed, but what other choice is there?"

The lion swiped at the capsule, forcing all three of them to fall off. Grover started playing more urgently while Thalia blocked its path with her shield, Aegis. Seeing the head of Medusa on the shield caused the lion to recoil.

"Hi-yah!" Thalia yelled. "Back!"

Danielle shook off the daze she got when she fell off the capsule and saw the lion. It was crouching; it's leg muscles tensing. It didn't take a genius to see that it was about to pounce.

Percy apparently saw it too as he yelled out, "Hey!" and charged the beast. Danielle's eyes widened, a sword would do as much good as an arrow.

Concentrating, she managed to focus on Percy and levitated him away just as Percy's sword clanged pointlessly on the lion's metallic fur.

Percy gave her a look of thanks but the lion focused on him and he had no way to escape. He was backed against the railing and the only way to go would be to jump.

Percy looked at Danielle and they both understood the plan he had in mind. The lion lunged at him and as soon as both he and the lion had dropped onto an old-fashioned silver airplane, he floated out of the lion's reach and back behind the railing.

Danielle panted; levitating someone big across even that small a distance was tiring. Zoe and Bianca recovered by then and were shooting arrows at the lion on the airplane. The lion roared again, exposing its maw, a pink tongue and throat.

Percy managed to get Zoe's attention, "Zoe! Target the mouth!"

The lion's weight on the airplane was getting too much for the cords holding it and a few snapped. The lion managed to jump off and landed on a giant model of the Earth on the ground floor.

"Grover!" yelled Percy. "Clear the area!"

Groups of kids were yelling while running in circles. Grover managed to shepherd them away from the lion just as the rest of the cords on the airplane snapped, causing it to crash onto the floor. Thalia dropped from the first floor to the ground one while Percy ran down the stairs to join her. The lion regarded them closely, as if trying to figure out which one to kill first.

Zoe, Danielle, and Bianca, still on the first floor, tried to shoot an arrow, but couldn't get a good angle.

"No clear shot!" yelled Zoe, "Get it to open its mouth more!"

The lion snarled on the top of the globe.

Danielle was frustrated, there was no good shot and the lion was apparently smart enough not to open its mouth too often. It even narrowed its eyes to tiny slits so they couldn't even use that.

Percy apparently got an idea, "Thalia, keep it occupied." He then ran into the gift shop.

"This is no time for souvenirs, boy!" yelled out Zoe as Thalia held out her shield and sent an arc of lightning, zapping the lion's tail. The beast roared and tried to lunge but kept stopping when it saw the horrible face on her shield.

The hunters fired arrow after arrow but it was no good. Danielle just hoped that Percy had a plan. The lion snapped at Thalia, swiping her with its claws but she kept jabbing it with her spear. The lion was winning though; Thalia was being backed into a corner.

"Percy!" she called, "whatever you're going to do…"

The lion roared again and swatted her like a cat toy. She slammed into a Titan rocket and slid down onto the floor.

"Hey!" yelled Percy. He was back; in one hand he held Riptide while in the other was about a dozen packages wrapped in silver cellophane. He threw Riptide like a throwing knife, which bounced off the lion's fur but it was enough to get its attention.

Danielle jumped off her ledge and landed next to Percy. He grabbed one of the cellophane-wrapped packages and threw it into the lion's maw.

The lion's eyes widened and gagged like a cat with a hairball. Danielle, curious, looked and saw that Percy had grabbed what appeared to be space food packets.

"Zoe! Get ready!" Danielle yelled as the lion roared again, only to get another packet in its mouth.

Grover was playing a new song now on his pipes.

The lion had managed to choke down the packet and looked at Percy with pure hate.

"Snack time!" Percy yelled. He then threw more packets and Danielle helped by using a duplicating charm. The lion kept getting more packets in its mouth and the more it gagged.

The lion reared up on its back legs, trying to get away.

"Now!" Danielle yelled as she summoned her own bow.

Zoe and Bianca fired and arrows filled the lion's maw- three, six, nine. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. And then it was still.

Danielle sighed in relief but it was short lived when alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on.

Grover helped Thalia, who looked dazed but fine. Zoe and Bianca dropped down next to Percy and Danielle.

Zoe looked at Percy, "that was…an interesting strategy."

Percy looked back defensively, "hey, it worked."

Zoe didn't say anything.

The lion seemed to be melting, dissolving into golden dust, until there was nothing left but its fur coat, which shrunk as well until it was the size of a normal lion's pelt.

"Take it," Zoe told Percy.

Percy stared at her, "what, the lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animal rights violation or something?"

"It is a spoil of war, it is rightly thine."

"You guys killed it."

Zoe shook her head, almost smiling, "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair Percy Jackson. Take the fur."

Percy shrugged and picked up the fur. As he held it, it shifted until he was holding a coat- a full-length golden-brown duster.

"Not exactly my style," he muttered, putting the coat on anyway.

"We have to get out of here," said Grover, "the security guards won't stay confused for long."

They looked and saw that the security guards were running in all directions but completely ignored them. Running into walls and even each other.

"You did that?" Percy asked.

Grover nodded, a little embarrassed, "a minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time but will only last a few more seconds."

"The security guards are not our biggest worry," said Zoe, "look."

They looked through the glass walls of the museum and what looked like a group of men were headed past the lawn outside and toward the front doors. Gray men in gray camouflage outfits. Danielle had never seen an inferi, but even from this distance she could tell that they were skeletons made to look like people. They were also staring at Percy.

"Go," said Percy. "They'll be hunting me. I'll go distract them."

Danielle snorted as Zoe shook her head, "No, we go together."

Percy stared at her, "but, you said-"

"You are a part of this quest now," she said grudgingly, "I don't like it, but there is no changing fate. You are the sixth quest member. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

"We can talk about this later," said Thalia, looking nervously out the window, "right now we should get back to the van and get somewhere safe."

Everyone nodded and managed to slip out a side exit onto the street next to the museum. They saw emergency vehicles screeching to a halt in front of the building but they ignored them and walked as quickly as possible without drawing attention.

No one said a word as they ran the last half block to the van. The van was able to hold about eight or nine people so they still had room, even with Percy. Zoe started the van quickly and they quickly tried to drive out of the city.

"Where are we going now?" asked Bianca.

"The prophecy told us to go west, so we should just start going in that direction," said Danielle.

Thalia nodded, "Artemis was being held on some sort of mountain but there are a lot of them out west, this will be hard."

No one could say anything but the sudden sound of helicopter blades got their attention. They were just crossing the Potomac River when Percy looked out the back and saw that the helicopter was coming for them. It looked the same as the one from the school.

"They know the van, we have to ditch it," said Percy.

Zoe swerved into the fast lane but the helicopter was gaining.

"Maybe the military will shoot it down," said Grover, hopefully.

"They probably think it's one of theirs," said Percy, "how could the General be working with Mortals anyway?"

"Mercenaries," said Zoe distastefully, "some Mortals will work for anyone who pays enough. Sometimes they are worse than monsters."

"But won't they wonder about all the monsters around and get suspicious?" asked Percy.

Danielle shook her head, "I doubt it. Even if they can see through the Mist they could still be willing to work for them. Money is a great motivator and will get Mortals to lose their inhibitions about who they work with."

The helicopter kept coming for them, making much better time down the highway than they were.

Thalia closed her eyes in a silent prayer, "hey Dad, we could use some lightning right about now."

The clouds stayed cold and snowy, no sign of a thunderstorm anywhere.

"There!" yelled out Bianca as she pointed to a car park. "That parking lot!"

"We'll be trapped," warned Zoe.

Bianca shook her head, "trust me."

Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic and entered the off ramp for the car park. Parking, Danielle saw that it was for an underground subway system.

The helicopter was still coming for them, "let's go south," said Bianca, "Alexandria."

"Anything," said Thalia.

They purchased tickets and within minutes they were on a southbound train, riding away from D.C. The train came above ground and they saw the helicopter hovering the car park but weren't following them.

"Nice job Bianca," said Grover, wiping his forehead, "thinking of the subway."

Bianca looked pleased, "yeah, well, when Nico and I came last summer before we went to Westover Hall I remember we were really surprised it was here. It wasn't here when we lived here."

Grover frowned, "new? That station looked really old."

Bianca shrugged, "I guess, but when we lived here, there was no subway."

Thalia became alert, "wait, no subway at all?"

Danielle also looked confused, "this whole thing must be decades old at least."

"Bianca," said Zoe, "how long ago…" she never finished as the sound of helicopter blades was heard again, and getting louder.

"We need to change trains," said Percy. "Next station."

Over the next half hour, they changed trains twice at random stations, only thinking of getting to safety. None of them relaxed until the sound of the helicopter blades disappeared entirely.

Eventually, the train forced everyone to get out and they found it was the end of the line. Danielle stared at the dirty overturned boxcars; the warehouses, snow everywhere and some homeless guy warming himself with a trash can fire. It also seemed much colder and Danielle was glad she had her hunt parka on. If there was anything she hated more than creepy crawly things, it was the cold.

They must have looked pretty pathetic since the homeless guy offered to share his fire. He gave them all a toothless grin, "y'all need to get warmed up, come on over here!"

They all moved over to the fire, Thalia shivering, "well, t-th-this is j-just g-great."

"My hooves are cold," moaned Grover.

"Feet," corrected Percy for the homeless guy.

"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca suggested.

"No," said Zoe, who didn't look that thrilled about sharing a homeless guy's fire, "Chiron cannot help us any further. We must find our own path."

Danielle closed her eyes and concentrated on the feeling of being warm. She was exhausted, physically, mentally, and magically, but she had the strength to cast a silent warming charm on them all, even the homeless guy.

The guy smiled, "You know, you are never completely without friends," he grinned at them, which looked terrifying without teeth, "looking for a ride west are ya?"

"Yes, sir," said Percy, "you know of one?"

The guy nodded, his face was grimy and his beard was tangled but he seemed to be a nice guy. Suddenly, everyone noticed a nice train on the nearby track. It was obviously a cargo train but it was full of brand new cars. The logo stated it was a SUN WEST LINE train.

"That's…convenient," said Thalia, "thanks, uh…?"

Looking around, the guy was gone, even his trash can fire was taken, leaving it as empty and lifeless as if he had never been there.

For once, Zoe and Thalia didn't have to fight over which one was driving as they both got their own cars. An hour after their talk with the homeless guy, they were headed west and everyone had crashed in their own car. Zoe and Bianca chose a Lexus on the top level of the train and Danielle knew nothing about cars so she crashed in the back seat while the other two hunters took the driver's seat and shotgun.

Thalia had grabbed a black Mercedes SLK and had hot-wired the radio to pick any good stations from D.C. Grover was playing racecar driver with a Lamborghini while Percy was car jumping between all of them, trying to find someone to talk to.

Danielle was lying down, taking the entire back seat of the Lexus, and was trying to recover from the magical fatigue she had from using so much magic. Levitating Percy twice, using a duplication charm, warming charms on the lot of them, and even some to keep up with the others so she was tired.

Zoe was talking to Bianca, "The Mountain of Despair, that is the only place I can think of for lady Artemis to go in search of this monster. It is due west and with the Titans returning…it is the only place that makes sense."

Bianca looked nervous, "what is the Mountain of Despair?"

Danielle perked at that as Zoe explained, "also known as Mount. Othrys, the headquarters of the Titans during the first war against the gods. Monsters are attracted to its lingering effects, a perfect place for a monster that is capable of destroying Mount Olympus would go."

Danielle sat up, "and as the heart of the west moves, so too has Mount. Othrys, where would it be now?"

Zoe looked disgruntled, like she didn't want to be having this conversation, "near San Francisco. A bad place for demigods."

Danielle cracked her neck, "good thing not all of us are demigods then. But what is this monster that could destroy Olympus and even the gods?"

Zoe shook her head, "I do not know. I have traveled with lady Artemis for many years and I have never heard of one monster being able to do this. There are several that come to mind but they are huge, the gods would know where they were right away."

Bianca looked nervous, "we'll find lady Artemis."

The other two smiled at her optimism but Grover interrupted them, apparently he had gotten tired of playing racecar driver. "Hello ladies, I'm sure I can cheer you up with some music," he held out his reed pipes.

Zoe glared at him but he played anyway. Zoe's glare intensified, "what will it take for thou to leave?"

Grover winked at her and played a different tune. The music must have been contaminated by woodland magic however as poison ivy started to grow from the air conditioner. Grover smiled sheepishly, "I can fix that."

Before Zoe or Bianca could do anything, Danielle let out a pulse of magic and Grover was knocked on his furry butt a few feet away. He just smiled again and ran back to the lower levels, probably to Percy or Thalia.

Danielle groaned as she lied down, a little green, willing her magic to recover. Bianca had to smile at what Danielle did, "that was impressive."

Zoe nodded, happy to be on a subject that didn't include anything to do with the mission, "indeed, I believe thou did the same when we first met."

Danielle nodded tiredly, "yeah, it takes a while for my magic to recharge though. I used a lot of it today so I can't use a lot right now."

"Yeah, a shame when that happens isn't it?" asked someone outside the car. They looked and it was the same homeless guy they had met before, "powers always take a while to recharge but at least yours are so helpful."

Danielle tried to remember the various things she knew about this god, as she was sure it was a god, then remembered the name on the side of the train, "Apollo?"

The guy laughed, "seems as if not all magicals in Britain are brain dead or inbred. I'm in disguise right now though so call me Fred."

Bianca looked at him disbelievingly, "a god named Fred?"

Apollo shook his head, "Percy said the same thing just a little while ago. I just spoke with him. And what is wrong with the name Fred?"

Bianca shook her head, "nothing," she said quickly.

Apollo's disguise looked like it could use some updating. His ratted jeans were so faded they were almost white. While his jacket was full of holes that were leaking stuffing so he looked like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck.

Zoe didn't look happy, "Apollo, why are thou here?"

Apollo sighed and sat down in a car opposite them, "I wanted to help you find my sister. Sure we fight all the time but what siblings don't?" He looked uneasy, "not all of us have horrible siblings Danielle, I'm forbidden from truly helping thanks to those pesky ancient laws but I can show my appreciation in small ways."

Danielle nodded, though it gave her a headache, "like giving us this train as a ride west."

Apollo nodded and continued, "even as the god of prophecy and the sun, I don't know exactly where Artemis is. She's…clouded from me, and I don't like it."

All three hunters looked at each other. Zoe responded, "It does look like a Titan is holding our lady. I just wish it wasn't one I am thinking of…" she trailed off.

Danielle and Bianca looked at each other, neither one having any idea of whom she was talking about.

Apollo stood up, "this train is going to get you across a good chunk of the country. I also think that you could use a good night's sleep after your day."

Zoe glared at him, "I am doing well, thank you."

Bianca looked tired but nodded with her.

Apollo smiled as he looked at Danielle, who was already asleep. "Looks like one of you was tired."

Zoe and Bianca looked and saw that their red headed companion was sawing logs. "I don't believe this," Zoe muttered as she face palmed.

Apollo looked at her, still smiling, "she's been using magic for hours, I think you can cut her some slack. Levitating Percy alone was tiring but she also used a warming charm on all of you since the day started."

Bianca looked surprised, "I was wondering why I was so warm all day."

Zoe conceded defeat, "I suppose we could all use sleep."

Bianca didn't need any more prompting and relaxed in her seat, Zoe staying awake to keep watch.

When the train finally came to a stop later, they found themselves on the outskirts of a small ski town in New Mexico. The sign nearby said that the town's name was Cloudcroft but Danielle didn't really care. She had seen tons of small towns and cities like this one in the hunt. The air was cold and there was snow everywhere. She shivered, what was with all the cold? Since they were in the mountains, there were pine trees in a nearby valley that were so thick they blocked out the sun.

Danielle and everyone else pulled their parkas and jackets tighter and made their ways for Main Street. As they walked, Percy was talking to Grover about something Apollo told him.

"Apparently, we have to find this guy named Nereus. Apollo told me he lives in San Francisco."

Grover looked uneasy as he responded, "that's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first."

Danielle turned to see Zoe, she had said something about the Mountain of Despair, and how it was in San Francisco now that the heart of the west was in America. She also remembered that Nereus was the guy that the original Perseus had gotten the location for the lair of Medusa.

Trying to find a new way west was difficult. Once at the center of the town, all they saw was a school, a bunch of tourist shops and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No car rental. No way out."

Danielle and Bianca looked at each other, it looked like they were trapped.

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

"Yes," said Zoe. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," said Grover dreamily. "And wax paper."

He got a few weird looks but Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you two get us some food. Percy, Bianca, Danielle and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

No one had a better idea so they separated with the understanding of meeting in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes.

Inside the store, they discovered some valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out unless you had your own car.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."

The clerk looked so lonely that Percy bought a rubber rat. Danielle tried not to look at it. She had used pieces of rats in potions and had never really liked them. It didn't help that her parent's old secret keeper had been a rat animagus.

Standing on the porch of the store, they tried to think of another option.

"Wonderful," Thalia grumbled. "I'm going to walk down the street. See if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."

"But the clerk said-"

"I know," she told Percy. "I'm checking anyway. Any of you want to come?"

Danielle looked at Bianca, who nodded. She looked fine with Percy, "sure."

It was obvious that Thalia had just wanted to keep moving. Being a demigod meant that they were all impulsive and had problems keeping still.

They visited shop after shop but no one inside of any of them had any other advice. It turned out that cars were pretty rare and no one was inclined to lend theirs to a group of teenagers, especially ones that were from out of town when there was no guarantee that they would get them back.

After the fifth shop had led nowhere, Thalia stomped off outside to a wall and rested her head against the wood, eyes closed. Danielle couldn't think of anything she could do. They needed a ride west and no magical transportation was around.

"Any bright ideas?"

Danielle saw that Thalia looked frustrated at the situation. She shook her head, "no. Every magical form of transport I know of wouldn't work. I've never apperated before and this is a bad time to start."

"Apperate?"

"Vanish and reappear somewhere else. Useful but I've never tried it and it can go wrong in horrible ways."

Thalia looked ready to try anything. "How bad?"

Danielle grimaced, "I could leave half of you behind."

Thalia flinched and shook her head, "no, that's out."

Danielle nodded, "there are other ways but I've either never tried them or you need special permission to use them. I'm sorry but I'm stumped."

Thalia smiled, "I suppose you can't just hop on your witch broom and fly us there?"

Danielle rolled her eyes, "I COULD, but I left my broom at home in Britain." She sighed, "not like it was mine anyway, I had to sneak it out without my parents noticing."

They lapsed into silence and made their way back to the others. Danielle broke the silence, "what about you? You are a daughter of Zeus, can't you just fly us there?"

Thalia flinched much harder than the last time as she tried to find an answer. "To be honest, I've never tried. Not even sure if I could."

Danielle nodded but made a mental note to ask her why she flinched later.

They lapsed back into silence as they started to make their way to the others in the distance. Zoe and Grover had large cups of coffee along with a bag that probably held pastries for them.

As they got closer, a sudden gust of warm air blasted through the town. That made no sense, it was winter. The air suddenly freshened and smelled of wildflowers and sunshine.

Both girls started running as Grover dropped his cup, coffee steaming against the snow. The birds that decorated the cup peeled off the cup and flew away, a real flock of doves. The rubber rat that Percy had left on the railing of the store squeaked and ran off.

Grover collapsed into the snow with his coffee.

"Hey!" yelled Thalia as she and Danielle got there, "what's wrong with Grover?"

Grover was moaning, his eyes were shut but were fluttering underneath his eyelids, like he was dreaming.

"I don't know," said Percy. "He just collapsed."

"Uuuuuhhhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in hand. She looked around, as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here."

Danielle was on the case and muttered, "locomotor Grover." Grover hovered a few inches off the ground. "There, he'll follow us now as we run."

Everyone nodded and ran to the edge of town. They almost made it when the bushes on either side of the road rustled and two skeleton warriors, the same ones that were at the Smithsonian, stepped out. Instead of gray camouflage, they were wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had the same gray skin and yellow eyes. They drew their handguns.

Thalia tapped her bracelet and Aegis spiraled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch.

Percy nervously drew Riptide, as if wondering what a sword could do against guns.

Danielle moved Grover off to the side and drew her bow with Zoe and Bianca.

"Back up," said Thalia.

They started to, but two more bushes rustled, two more skeleton warriors appeared behind them. They were surrounded.

One of them reached into a pocket of its uniform and pulled out a cell phone and spoke into it.

Danielle didn't need any more prompting. She knew exactly what it was doing, it was calling for reinforcements. She pointed at the phone and shot a reducto at it, causing the phone to shatter.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's here," said Percy.

Grover started to wake up, canceling the levitation charm. "No, the gift, the gift from the wild."

No one had a clue what he was talking about but he was in no shape to fight.

"We'll have to take them one-on-one," said Thalia. "Four of them, five of us. Just get their minds off Grover."

"Agreed," said Zoe.

"The Wild!" Grover moaned.

Another warm breeze blew throughout town but they ignored it, focusing on the skeletons.

Percy charged first and one of the skeletons fired. Everyone tensed but Percy somehow managed to deflect the bullet with Riptide and continued to swing the sword. The skeleton drew a police baton but the bronze blade cleanly detached the skeleton's arms from its body. Percy continued and managed to cut the skeleton in half by the waist.

The bones unknit and fell to the ground, but they immediately started to move and form back together, reassembling themselves. A second skeleton attacked Percy but he knocked the gun into the snow.

He was doing well, Zoe not wanting to get involved yet made Bianca and Danielle hold back, letting Percy fight his own fight. Thalia was not nearly as composed and was ready to fry a skeleton with lightning at any moment. Grover was still mumbling about the wild and looked like he was in a daze, ready to hug a tree.

Gunfire brought everyone's attention back to Percy to find that he had been shot in the back.

"Percy!" Thalia screamed.

Percy stumbled, but the Namean lion fur coat he was wearing was bullet proof so he was fine.

Zoe nodded and everyone who was able to fight, and wasn't Grover, started attacking as well. Thalia charged the second skeleton with her spear. Zoe, Bianca and Danielle started firing arrows at the skeletons but they weren't having any affect. They would just go right through the bones or rattle them slightly.

Danielle glared at the skeletons; arrows weren't working so she needed to try something else. Remembering that inferi hated fire, she came up with a plan.

She vanished her bow and was about to pull out her wand when a skeleton lunged for Bianca. Bianca looked surprised but brought out her hunting knife and stabbed it into the warrior's chest. Everyone expected it to not do anything; instead, the skeleton burst into flames and turned to ash, which blew away with the same warm breeze.

Everyone stared at her, she looked stunned as well. Zoe looked at her, "how did you do that?"

Bianca shook her head, "I don't know."

"Well, do it again!"

She tried, but the skeletons were wary of her now and backed out of range.

"Plan?" asked Percy as he held his sword out ready to attack.

Danielle smiled and held out her wand. Zoe backed up, she had seen that Danielle only brought out her wand if she needed focus or was about to do something big.

"Back up!"

Danielle took the front and flicked her wand, "you might want to get behind me."

Thalia, Percy, and Bianca did so and Danielle took in a deep breath. Flicking her wand she said, "**lux gladius!**" there was a flash of something at the tip of her wand and everyone held their breath, but it fizzled out before it could form anything.

Danielle got frustrated, "why won't this work?" Shaking her head, she seemed to settle for something else, "okay then, **incedio vebero!**"

Zoe apparently knew enough Latin to know what she had said but still seemed awed when a tongue of flame, about ten feet long, erupted out of the wand tip. Danielle was smiling like a maniac as she brandished her whip, "who wants this?"

The skeletons seemed too stunned to do anything but one was smart enough to get away while Danielle wrapped the whip around the two remaining ones, their clothes and bones burning.

Everyone backed up as they saw the horror of the two skeletons roasting before turning to dust. The last skeleton looked worried and was about to retreat to attack another day when there was a loud "RREEEEEET!"

"A gift," Grover muttered.

The gift became clear when a huge wild boar came out of nowhere, trampling the last skeleton so hard its bones crashed a good fifty feet away.

The boar was humongous. It was thirty feet tall for starters and had tusks the size of canoes. Coarse brown hair covered its back while the snotty pink snout was taking in air, and their scents.

Then the boar turned on them.

Thalia raised her spear while Danielle raised her fire whip.

"Don't kill it!" yelled Grover.

The boar pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," said Zoe, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we _can_ kill it."

"It's a gift," said Grover. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said, "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusks. Zoe, Bianca, and Danielle had to jump out of the way, Danielle letting her whip fade in the process. Percy had to dive and pinned Grover to the ground to make sure the stupid satyr didn't go flying into a mountain.

"Yeah, I feel blessed," Percy said sarcastically. "Scatter!"

The boar seemed confused when everyone ran in different directions.

"It wants to kill us!" yelled Thalia.

"Of course it does," said Grover as if it was obvious. "It's wild."

"Then how is that a blessing?" asked Bianca.

It seemed like a fair question but the boar seemed offended and charged her. Bianca was nimble enough to jump out of the way but the boar kept going and smashed right through the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

Danielle really didn't want to have to fight this thing. She remembered that Heracles had fought this thing once, but it had destroyed several villages in the process before he could subdue it.

"Keep moving!" shouted Zoe. She went one way, Danielle and Bianca went another. Grover played some notes on his reed pipes while dancing but the boar didn't seem impressed and tried to gouge him with its tusks.

The boar finally turned toward Thalia and Percy and Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis. The Medusa head on the shield made the boar go berserk and charged them; Thalia and Percy turned and ran for it.

When the three hunt members and Grover reunited after separating, they could see the trail of destruction the boar caused at it chased after those two. Percy and Thalia were only alive because they were running uphill and could run between the trees while the boar had to plow right through them.

"You don't see that everyday," Danielle commented. A huge, ten-ton pig tank, chasing two demigods up a mountain.

"We have to help them," said Bianca.

Zoe nodded, "indeed, it should not be too hard to follow the carnage."

The four of them ran after their quest members and the pig, dodging broken tree limbs in the process. They found an old mine tunnel at the top of the hill and followed after it.

There was a loud, "REEEEEET!" up ahead that sounded distant so they were headed in the right direction. When the tunnel opened, they saw what had happened. Percy and Thalia were about seventy feet below them at the bottom of a huge valley. The bridge that connected the two mountains was broken and the boar was stuck in the snow. Percy and Thalia must have jumped, using Aegis as a snowboard, while the boar free fell when the bridge couldn't hold its weight. It didn't look hurt but wasn't going to be moving any time soon.

Grover leaned down, "heellllooo!"

Percy and Thalia looked up, and Percy waved at them, "down here!"

A few minutes later, the gang was back together and watched the boar struggle in the snow.

"A blessing of the Wild," said Grover, sounding more agitated now that the Wild induced trance had worn off.

Zoe nodded, "I agree, we must use it."

Danielle shook her head, "I was afraid you were going to say that."

"Hold up," said Thalia. With all the pine needles stuck to her hair, she looked like she had lost a fight with a Christmas tree. "Explain to me why you think this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this pig can travel?"

"Fun," said Percy, "like…pig cowboys."

Danielle was sure she was not going to like this but she couldn't really complain. Like it or not, the pig was a blessing and the gods didn't like it if a hero didn't use their blessings.

Grover nodded at Percy's comment, "we should get on board now. I wish…I wish I had some more time to look around. But it's gone now."

Percy looked confused, "what's gone?"

Grover wouldn't answer his question and looked back at the boar, which was starting to free itself from the snow. He pulled out his pipes and played a snappy tune and threw an apple at the boar, which hovered in front of its nose. It strained to get it and managed to get more unstuck.

"Automatic steering," said Thalia, "nice."

She trudged off behind Grover and jumped on board. Danielle, resigned, walked off to the boar at well.

"Wait a second," said Percy, clearly trying to figure something out. "Do you three know what Grover meant? This…wild blessing?"

Zoe looked at him as if he was an idiot, "of course. Did you not feel it in that wind? It was so strong...it was as if I was in his presence again."

Percy still looked confused, "who?"

Zoe gave an exasperated sigh, "the Lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the Boar, I felt the presence of Pan."

Danielle sighed, "sure, why not? We get help from the one god that had vanished for over two thousand years." She jumped on the boar behind Thalia and made herself comfortable. When that was impossible on the boar's hairy back, she used a cushioning charm that would make it a little more tolerable.

Zoe, Bianca and Percy jumped up as well and in no time the boar got free of the snow. Grover played the tune from before again and the apple drifted off in front of the boar. The boar, desperate to get the apple, ran to catch up. With the woodland magic in place, the boar ran down the mountain and headed west, still trying to get the fruit in front of it.

The ride was bumpy, but with the cushioning charm in place, it could have been much worse. It was better than that horrible ride from the sun bus anyway and only slightly better than the Knight Bus.

The boar headed west, past the town and left the mountains behind. The snow and trees gave way to shrubs and seemingly endless desert. The flat lands were so surreal to Danielle that she had to stare. She had lived in Britain for most of her life and it was so green all over the place that even her time in the Hunt hadn't prepared her for all the sand of the desert.

By sunset, the boar had traveled a good portion of their distance before it finally stopped. The boar ripped apart a saguaro cactus and chewed it all, even the needles, and drank a large amount of muddy water.

"This is as far as he's going, we should get off now," said Grover, "while he's eating."

No one argued and slipped off the boar. After the boar was done with its third saguaro and had another large drink of muddy water, it squealed and belched before running east again.

"It must prefer the mountains," Percy guessed.

"I don't blame it," said Thalia. "Look."

On the other side of an old road that was half-buried in sand was a group of buildings too small to be a town. There was a boarded up house, a taco shop that Danielle was sure had seen better days, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILACLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked against the door. Beyond the buildings was what looked like a series of rolling hills, and then it was revealed that they were just huge piles of cars, broken appliances, and scrap metal. A huge junkyard that seemed to stretch forever.

"Whoa," said Percy. Danielle had to agree, the junkyard was pretty big.

"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said. She looked at Grover. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and did what he did back at camp. He threw the acorns into the sand and played his pipes. The acorns rearranged themselves into a new pattern.

Grover looked concerned, "that's us," he said. "Those six nuts there."

"Which one is me?" asked Percy.

Danielle rolled her eyes while Zoe said, "the little deformed one?"

"Oh, shut up."

"That cluster there," said Grover, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"A monster?" Thalia asked.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge…"

He pointed straight toward the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, the hills of metal looked strange and unnatural.

Nobody wanted to chance the junkyard during the night so camp was made to try in the morning.

Zoe, Bianca and Danielle all pulled out enough sleeping bags for everyone out of their backpacks. The magic in the bags allowing them the extra space.

The air got cold fast so Grover and Percy collected some firewood from the ruined house and Danielle set the wood on fire with a mild spell to create a campfire. They were soon as comfortable as they could be in a ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," said Zoe as they relaxed. They looked up and saw she was right; there were millions of them.

"Amazing," said Bianca, "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

Danielle smiled, "I've lived in the country side in Wales before joining the Hunt. I've stargazed all my life but this is still incredible."

"This is nothing," said Zoe. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," said Percy, idly.

Zoe raised an eyebrow, "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"For _you_," Thalia corrected her. "Not thee."

Danielle laughed, better people than Thalia had tried to teach Zoe modern English.

Zoe looked confused, "but you use _you_ for the beginning of a sentence."

"And for the end," Thalia said. "No _thou_. No _thee_. Just _you_."

Zoe threw her hands up in exasperation. "I hate this language, it changes too often."

Danielle laughed even harder at that, "Zoe, no one has said _thee_ or _thou_ in several hundred years."

Zoe glared at her but Danielle just smiled sweetly back.

Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking of the light pollution problem. "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Zoe nodded sadly.

"Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee…"

Everyone looked at him sadly. No one thought that coffee was the key to finding out what had happened in Cloudcroft but they didn't have the heart to tell him that.

"Grover, do you really think it was Pan?" asked Percy. "I mean, I know you want it to be."

"He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

Danielle nodded along with what Grover was saying. "It was the Wild, no doubt about that." She looked at Grover, "He is the god of the Wild. New Mexico must have a wild spot, untouched by humans. Find that, and you might find Pan."

Grover smiled and nodded, already thinking of places in New Mexico that wasn't tainted by humans.

"What I want to know," said Thalia, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. If we could all fight them, not just you and Danielle, then we could finish the rest off."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," Percy suggested.

"It is the same as mine," Zoe said. "Celestrial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," Percy guessed. "Not like Danielle had to worry about that."

Danielle smiled and blushed, "I might have overdone it."

Bianca laughed, "maybe a little, but that was still awesome. You made a whip out of fire, no one else can do that."

Danielle shrugged, "I guess. Took a lot of magic though but all I was thinking was getting us out of there safely."

"What was that spell you tried first?" Thalia asked. "The one that fizzled out so you had to use a whip made of fire."

Danielle looked down, "I was trying to make a sword of light, but it failed. I thought it would look cool."

Percy nodded, "that would look cool. But if Bianca could remember how she destroyed one, we wouldn't need magic to defeat them."

Bianca looked uncomfortable with everyone paying attention to her.

"Never mind," Zoe told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through the junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

Both Percy and Grover looked ready to object for some reason but Bianca beat them to it.

"No!" she said. "Not there!"

She looked completely freaked out.

Zoe frowned, "why?"

Bianca took a shaky breath. "I…I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember…"

Both Percy and Grover looked at her, concerned, then their eyes lit up like they realized something.

"Bianca," Percy said slowly. "That hotel you stayed at, was it possibly the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Bianca's eyes widened, "how could you know that?"

"Wait," said Thalia. "What is the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," said Percy, "Grover, Annabeth and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed there for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

Both Zoe and Danielle looked at each other.

"No," said Bianca. "No, that's not possible."

"You said that somebody came and got you out," said Percy.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I…I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Zoe sat forward, concerned. "You said that Washington D.C. had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but-"

"Bianca," Zoe said, "can you tell me the name of the President of the Untied States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. "George W. Bush."

"And the President before that?" Zoe asked.

Bianca thought for a while, "Roosevelt."

Danielle was no expert on American history, but she knew that the last president was Bill Clinton.

Zoe swallowed, "Theodore or Franklin?"

"Franklin," said Bianca. "FDR."

"Like FDR drive?" asked Percy. They ignored him.

Danielle took over, "Bianca," she said slowly. "Franklin Roosevelt was the American president during the early days of World War Two. That was almost seventy years ago."

"That's…that's impossible," said Bianca, "I'm…I'm not that old."

She stared at her hands, as if to make sure that they were still young.

Thalia looked at her sadly. Since she had been a pine tree for a while, she must know what it was like to miss a big gap in time like that. "It's okay, Bianca. The important thing is that you and Nico are safe. You're out now."

"But how?" asked Percy. "We were only there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have escaped after being there for so long?"

"I told you," said Bianca, she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "A man came to us and told us it was time to leave. And-"

"But who? Why would he do it?"

Before Bianca could answer, there was a sudden flash that blinded everyone. Headlights from a car had come out of nowhere from the road. Everyone grabbed their sleeping bags and got out their weapons; ready to face the deathly white Limo that had appeared out of nowhere that had stopped in front of them.

They got as far as the back door of the limo when it opened and a sword was pointed at Percy's throat.

Everyone immediately got their weapons ready. The owner of the sword got out of the car while Percy backed up, careful to keep the sword from taking his head off.

"Not so fast now, are you, punk?" said the man, smiling hatefully.

He was a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt and combat boots. His wraparound shades hid his eyes but there was no denying the power behind them.

Danielle was starting to get angry for no reason, as if the man was responsible. She suddenly remembered David, pushing her around and making sure she had no friends. Ronald spreading rumors that made her sound mentally unbalanced and dangerous. Lily and James disowning her and taking away everything that was hers. Dumbledore for never having time for her but always plenty of time for everyone else, even if she had a valid complaint or theory she wanted to talk to him about.

She wanted to kick something. She wanted to make arrows fly through the heads of her enemies! She wanted to burn their ashes to dust!

"Ares," Percy growled.

The war god turned to the others, "at ease, people."

He snapped his fingers and all of their weapons fell to the ground.

"This is a friendly meeting," said Ares as he dug his sword a little deeper into Percy's neck. "Of course, I'd like to take your head as a trophy, but someone wants to talk to you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" asked Thalia.

Ares looked over at her, "well, well, well, I heard you were back."

He lowered the sword and pushed Percy away from him.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus." Ares mused, "You're not hanging with very good company."

"What's your business Ares?" Thalia asked, "who's in the car?"

Danielle shook her head to get the images of violence out of her mind, "Aphrodite," she spat. "Goddess of love and beauty no doubt."

Ares simply gave a grunt, "not bad girly. But I doubt she would want to meet any of you, particularly you three." He referred to the three Hunters. "Why don't you get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe said.

"Besides," said Grover, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers and the lights of the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards in front of the door flew off and the closed sign switched to open. "You were saying, goat boy?"

"Go on," said Percy, though he sounded slightly nervous, "I'll handle this."

"You heard the boy," said Ares. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

It was the last thing they wanted to do, but everyone reluctantly shuffled off to the taco place, leaving Percy at the mercy of the god of war and the goddess of love. Danielle wasn't sure which one was worse.

As soon as they were through the doors, Danielle sat down out of frustration, trying to get rid of the feelings of rage.

Zoe sat down next to her, "rage aura is a specialty of Lord Ares. It always hits those unused to the effects the hardest, especially if they have a lot of pent up anger."

Danielle nodded and tried to force herself to relax. She just had to remind herself that all of the people she hated were a whole ocean away; they couldn't find her even if they wanted to.

"Sorry, but I do have a lot of anger right now."

Zoe nodded and waited for the others to get back. Looking up, Danielle saw that they somehow got the food they asked for, even if there were no employees. The whole place looked like it had come from a horror movie, but that made sense since the war god brought the place back. She was sure that Lady Hestia or even Lady Hera would have done a better job.

Bianca sat down next to her with enough food for the both of them. "Did you have a bad time with Lord Ares' powers as well?"

Bianca nodded slowly, "yeah, but it wasn't as bad as you apparently. I was kind of freaking out about my past to really notice."

Danielle nodded and grabbed a taco off the tray, wondering how the god of war could have summoned the food but gave up, figuring that it was just a god thing.

Thalia hadn't taken the exchange between herself and Ares well, "ugh, that guy is infuriating! How could anyone deal with him?"

Grover just nodded as he ate the napkins, "apparently Aphrodite, but no one knows how."

Thalia nodded, "who knows what she is spewing into Percy's head right now."

Zoe nodded as well, "indeed, the goddess of love has always been devious."

Danielle smiled, "like that girl that didn't want to fall in love even though Aphrodite wanted her to so she got protection from Lady Artemis?"

Zoe nodded, wrinkling her nose, "yes, and Aphrodite made her fell in love with a bear instead. I do not blame Lady Artemis for leaving her behind. She and the bear got along too well."

Thalia smirked, "I keep forgetting how old you are Zoe, you saw that whole thing, didn't you?"

"Yes, and it is an image that is burned into my brain, thank you." Zoe looked quite disgusted by that imagery.

"Ares and Aphrodite are perfect for each other then," muttered Danielle. "Both mess with your emotions and make you think and do things you wouldn't otherwise do."

They all nodded and finished their food in silence. When they were done they looked out the window and saw Percy talking to Ares again. Ares seemed to be threatening him again, and then he snapped his fingers and everyone suddenly felt like they just did a three hundred-sixty degree spin. When the world came into focus again, all they could see were the mountains of junk around them. Ares had transported them into the junkyard.

**Okay, well that's the end of the first part of Titans Curse. I might post the next part in either a few days, or a week, depending on the reviews. Thank you for reading. Peace out!**


	3. Titans Curse Part two

**Wow, had no idea that this would get so many views.**

**Alright, so, I got a review wondering if I would pair Danielle up with Apollo. The answer for that is a big fat NO! The relationship between them is complicated but as a Hunter of Artemis, Danielle is not going to be breaking her oath for a guy. Why Apollo anyway? He is essentially the ultimate bachelor and is the epitome of everything Artemis hates. With Artemis as a mother figure and Zoe as a big sister figure, of course Danielle is not going to leave her FAMILY to be with a guy who might be with her for a couple of weeks before dumping for his next fling. Sorry, but that's just how Apollo rolls.**

**Danielle is going back to Britain, but she has to deal with a certain Titan Lord of Time first. I mean, really, a powerful magical terrorist kind of pales in comparison to an immortal Titan king that wants to destroy all of western civilization.**

**As for the idea of Danielle becoming the lieutenant instead of Thalia, well, that is in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All props go to J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan.**

After the brief wave of nausea was over, they saw Percy had joined them, looking shaken form his meeting with the goddess.

Zoe sighed and she looked around, "Lord Ares teleported us in here."

Percy nodded, "he wanted me to talk to Aphrodite."

"What did she want with you?" asked Bianca.

"Oh, uh, not sure," Percy said, his left eye twitching like crazy, showing that he was lying. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

Zoe narrowed her eyes, "the goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Percy, Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once I agree with Zoe," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

Grover looked at Percy funny, which was understandable being empathic. Danielle was sure that Aphrodite wouldn't do anything with anyone unless love was involved somewhere.

Percy seemed eager to change the subject, "so, how do we get out of here?"

Zoe and Danielle looked at the stars. Danielle frowned, "well, we have to go west…"

"That way," said Zoe. "That is west."

"How can you tell?"

It was amazing how everyone could see her rolling her eyes at Percy in the low light of the moon.

"Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means that must be west."

She pointed west then at the constellation she had referred to.

"Oh yeah," said Percy. "That bear thing."

Zoe looked offended while Danielle sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Percy," Danielle started. "Who do you think put the bear into the sky in the first place? Lady Artemis saw it was a worthy opponent and turned him into a constellation."

"Wow."

"Guys," Grover broke in. "Look!"

They had reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of metal swords and shields and other weapons, along with more modern stuff like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

"Whoa," said Bianca. "That stuff…some of it looks like real gold!"

"It is," said Thalia grimly. "Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods."

"Junk?" Grover picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver and jewels. It was also broken on one side, as if someone had split it in half with an axe. "You call this junk?"

He bit off a piece and began to chew, "it's delicious."

Thalia swatted the crown out of his hand. "I'm serious."

Danielle looked around, "the gods wouldn't throw any of this stuff away if it wasn't cursed or defective. Everything here has some flaw or problem that couldn't be fixed. Best if we ignore everything and make our way west."

They didn't get far when Bianca suddenly ran down the hill. "Look!" she raced around some bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in the moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!"

She yelped in surprise when the bow began to shrink and became a hairclip shaped like a crescent moon. "It's like Percy's sword!"

Zoe's face looked grim, "leave it, Bianca."

"But-"

"Danielle is right, it is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay here."

Bianca reluctantly put the hair clip down.

"I don't like this place," said Thalia. She gripped the shaft of her spear.

"You think we're going to be attacked by flying refrigerators?" asked Percy.

Thalia gave him a hard look, "they're right Percy. Things get thrown away here for a reason. Now come on, let's get across the yard."

The hills and valleys of junk across the junkyard seemed to go on forever. If it hadn't been for Ursa Major, they would've gotten lost. All the hills pretty much looked the same.

They tried to leave the stuff alone but some of it was too cool to not pick up. Percy found an electric guitar in the shape of Apollo's lyre. Grover found a broken tree made of metal. It had been chopped to pieces, but some of the branches still had golden birds on them. Danielle even had to pick up a wand that was said to look exactly like the Elder Wand of legend.

Finally, they found the edge of the junkyard about a half-mile ahead of them, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert. But between them and the road…

"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

Ahead of them was a hill much bigger and larger than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together.

Bianca frowned, "they look like-"

"Toes," said Grover.

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

Zoe, Danielle and Thalia all shared a look. Who would leave large statues of toes in the middle of a junkyard?

"Let's go around," said Thalia. "Far around."

"But the exit is right there," Percy protested. "Quicker to climb over."

_Ping_

Thalia raised her spear and Zoe her bow but then realized that it was only Grover. He had apparently thrown a piece of scrap metal at the toes and hit one, making an echoing noise, proving that they were hallow.

"Why did you do that?" Zoe demanded.

Grover cringed at the angry huntress, "I don't know, I don't like fake feet?"

"Come on," said Thalia, looking at Percy. _"Around_."

Percy stopped arguing and they made their way around the statues. After a few minutes of walking, they reached the highway, an abandoned but well lit stretch of asphalt.

"We made it out," said Zoe. "Thank the gods."

The gods apparently didn't want to be thanked though as a huge sound stopped them in their tracks. What sounded like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal at the same time made them freeze.

Everyone turned around and saw that the massive scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. The ten toes tilted over and they could see why they looked like toes, they were toes. The mountain rose up to show that it was actually a huge bronze giant in full Greek battle armor. He was impossibly tall, a huge skyscraper with legs and arms. Gleaming wickedly in the moonlight, he looked down at them, which was hard as it looked like half of his face had partially melted off, like a green army man if left next to the microwave too long. His joints creaked with rust from disuse and on his chest, written by what could have been a huge hand, were the words WASH ME.

"Talos," Zoe gasped.

"Who's Talos?" asked Percy in a shaky voice.

"A huge statue that guards a path into the sea of monsters," Danielle said. "Jason and the Argonauts had to face against him. But this can't be the original, it's too small. Most likely a prototype or a defective copy."

The metal giant didn't seem to like the word _defective._

He moved a hand toward his sword belt and drew his weapon. With a horrible clanging of metal on metal, he brought out his sword. It was a hundred feet long, easy. It looked rusty and dull but being hit by that thing would be like being hit by an ocean liner.

"Someone took something," said Zoe. "Who took something?"

She immediately glared at Percy.

Percy raised his hands to show they were empty, "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

Bianca got a guilty look on her face but before anyone could comment on it, the defective Talos took a step forward, cutting the distance between them in half and making the ground shake.

"Run!" yelled Grover.

It was a good plan but it was hopeless. At a leisurely stroll, this thing could easily catch up with them.

Everyone split up, just like they had done against the lion and the boar. Thalia brought out her shield and ran down the highway. Talos swung his sword and brought down a whole row of power lines, which sparked across the road and into Thalia's path.

Zoe was shooting arrows at the giant's face but they all shattered harmlessly against the metal. Danielle knew that arrows wouldn't work and brought out her wand, sending bolts of magic at the giant. Whatever magic in the statue seemed to counteract the magic in the attacks however and the blasts only seemed to slow it down slightly. Grover brayed like a baby goat and climbed up the mountain of metal.

Percy and Bianca had somehow wound up hiding behind the same chariot

"You took something," said Percy, "that bow."

Bianca shook her head, "no," her voice was quivering.

"Throw it down, maybe the giant will stop."

"I, I didn't take the bow! Besides, it's too late."

"What did you take?"

Before she could answer, a large sounding creaking noise got their attention as the sky was suddenly blotted out.

"Move!" Percy yelled and pushed Bianca out of the way as they ran out of the way. He got surprised when he and Bianca started zooming toward Danielle, who was pointing her wand at them, her eyes closed.

Danielle looked at them, "summoning charm." She looked and they saw that where Percy and Bianca had been standing was now a big crater in the ground where the giant's had stomped down.

"Hey Talos!" yelled Grover, who was at the top of the mountain made of scrap, trying to get the giant's attention. Talos ignored him and lifted his sword, looking at the three teens.

Grover started playing a quick melody on his pipes and the downed power lines started to dance. One power line with a live wire hit the back of the giant's leg and wrapped around it, sending volts of electricity through the giant's backside.

Talos turned around, creaking and sparking, Grover had bought them a few seconds.

"Come on!" yelled Percy as he and Danielle started running, they turned back when it was clear that Bianca was still rooted to the spot. When they ran up to her she pulled out a tiny figurine, a tiny model of a god.

"It, it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn't have."

"How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" asked Percy disbelievingly.

Bianca didn't answer; there were tears in her eyes.

"Throw the statue down," said Danielle, trying to be comforting while not panicking at the same time. "Talos might leave us alone if you do."

Bianca reluctantly threw it down, but nothing happened.

Talos kept advancing on Grover. It stabbed its sword into the junk hill, narrowly missing Grover by a few feet, but causing a junk avalanche to fall on top of him so they couldn't see anything any more.

"No!" yelled Thalia, bringing out her spear. An arc of blue electricity flew from the spear tip shot out hitting the giant in his rusty knee, which buckled. The giant collapsed onto one knee but was immediately up again. It was impossible to tell the possible emotions the giant was showing, having his face half melted, but it was clear that he was as ticked off as any twenty-story tall warrior could be.

He raised his foot to stomp down and they could see that the bottoms of its shoes were treaded like sneakers. There was a hole in its heel, like a small manhole, but it was painted with bright red letters saying: FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY.

"Crazy idea time," said Percy.

"Anything," said Bianca, eager to make up for her mistake of starting all of this and willing to do whatever it took.

Percy told her about the maintenance hatch, "There has to be some sort of levers or switches or something in that thing."

"We could control it from the inside," said Danielle, understanding. "The only question is, is it safe inside that thing? Odds are it should be pretty hot in there."

"How would we get inside though," asked Bianca, "you would have to stand under its foot! We would get crushed."

"Distract it," said Percy, looking determined. "I'll just have to time it right."

Bianca shook her head, "no, I'll do it."

Both Percy and Danielle shook their heads, "Bianca, you're new at this, you could die," said Danielle.

"It's my fault that Talos is here in the first place," she said. "It's my responsibility, here." She handed Percy the figurine that had started this, "if something happens to me, give that to Nico. Tell him…I'm sorry."

"Bianca!" yelled out both teens but Bianca was already running toward the giant. She charged at the monster's left foot.

Thalia had the monster's attention at the moment. She had figured out that the giant was big, but slow. It was possible to stay close and then run around Talos to dodge the attacks. At least it was working so far.

Bianca was right next to the monster's foot, trying to balance herself on the junk hill that swayed at the monster's huge weight.

Zoe yelled out, "what are you doing?"

"Get it to raise its foot!" Bianca yelled back.

Zoe shot an arrow that went right up the monster's left nostril. Talos straightened and shook its head.

"Hey junk boy!" Percy yelled. "Down here."

Just as Percy ran forward and slashed at the giant with Riptide, Danielle shot magical lightning from her wand, hitting the monster's back. The magical blade of Riptide made a large gash in the bronze and the lightning shot up Talos' back.

Unfortunately, their plan to get the monster's attention worked. After Talos was done shaking off the magical electricity, he lifted its foot, ready to stomp them both. Unable to see what Bianca was doing, they both ran for it, being thrown a good ten feet from the shockwave Talos had made. Danielle skidded down the road while Percy had been thrown into an Olympus-Air refrigerator.

Talos advanced on Percy, ready to finish him off when Grover came out from the junk hill he had been buried under. He played a quick tune on his pipes and another power line hit the giant in the thigh. Talos turned. Grover should have run but he was obviously exhausted from using so much magic. He took a few steps, before collapsing, not getting up.

"Grover!" yelled Thalia. She, Percy and Danielle all ran toward him but they knew it was too late. Talos raised his sword and was about to impale Grover, and then he froze.

Talos cocked his head to the side, as if he was listening to strange new music. He then started to wave his arms in strange ways, doing the funky chicken. Then he raised his fist and punched himself in the face.

"Go Bianca!" yelled out Percy.

Zoe looked horrified, "she is _inside?_"

Danielle could only nod before Talos started staggering around, almost stepping on them. Realizing that they were still in danger, Danielle used the same levitation charm on Grover as before and they all ran down the highway, Zoe in the lead. "How is Bianca supposed to get out?"

The giant punched himself in the face again, dropping his sword. With a shudder, Talos staggered through a few power lines.

"Look out!" yelled Percy.

Too late, a live wire wrapped around the giant's ankle, sending blue sparks coursing throughout its body. They had no idea of what was going on inside the giant. Talos careened back into the junkyard, his right hand falling off into a pile of scrap with a huge CLANG

His left arm fell off too; he was falling apart at the joints.

Talos began to run.

"Wait!" yelled Zoe as they tried to catch up, but there was no way they could. Pieces of the robot kept falling off, getting in their way.

The giant crumbled from the top down. First his head fell off, then his chest, finally only his legs were moving before they too fell over. Getting to the wreckage, they shouted out Bianca's name, trying to find her. They couldn't find anything, not even the summoning charm worked. They crawled through the hallow parts and its head, nothing. They searched until the sunlight came up, not coming up with anything.

Danielle sat down on one of the robots legs, her head in her hands while Zoe broke down completely, sitting in the sand and crying.

Thalia roared in anger and shoved a sword she had found in the junkyard through the giant's head.

Percy tried to be optimistic, "it's light out, we might be able to find her now."

Grover shook his head sadly, "we wont, it's just like in the prophecy, '_one shall be lost in the land without rain._'"

Why hadn't any of them seen it? They were in the desert, and Bianca Di Angelo was gone.

Thalia was the first to snap out of the stupor that everyone had found themselves in and walked off, nobody stopping her. After a few minutes, she came back driving an old tow truck, "get in, we still need to get to California, and we still have those skeletons after us."

The truck was so old that it looked like it could have been thrown away itself, but it had a tank full of gas and nobody had a better idea so they got in. The front had only two seats so Thalia drove while Zoe grabbed shotgun, still in shock about Bianca.

That left Percy, Danielle and Grover to ride in the flatbed in the back. The bright morning light and the sand giving them little concern as Thalia navigated them through the desert. Percy and Grover managed to make themselves comfortable along the back of the truck while Danielle rested off to the side, wondering.

She had been a part of the Hunt for a few years but this was the first time she had seen a Hunter die. Zoe should be more used to it by now, being in the Hunt for thousands of years, but her lieutenant had taken the news the hardest. It was like Zoe really was the biggest sister in their family and she had personally lost her youngest sibling.

She herself wished she could have saved Bianca but she hadn't the chance. For all of her magic, some things even she couldn't do. She vowed to save Lady Artemis as soon as she could, make sure that Bianca's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

She snorted inside her head, if only more witches and wizards knew about the gods, they wouldn't be so arrogant or inwardly focused.

Danielle looked at Percy, who looked miserable and was still holding that little god figurine that Bianca had wanted to give to Nico. Oh gods! What were they supposed to tell Nico!

They hadn't found Bianca's body but they were all sure she was gone. It felt like her presence had vanished from their group.

"It's all my fault," said Percy, breaking the silence. "It was my plan, I should've gone into the giant."

"Don't say that!" Grover yelled at him. "It's bad enough that Annabeth's gone, and now Bianca. Do you think that…" he sniffed, "do you think anyone else would be my best friend."

"Ah, Grover…"

He wiped his face with a grimy cloth that left his face smeared, like he was covered with war paint. "I, I'm alright."

He wasn't all right but neither Percy nor Danielle had anything to tell him. Ever since New Mexico, when Pan blessed them, Grover seemed a lot more fragile, like he could break if he was given enough pressure. He was so emotional now, that they were afraid to say anything that might upset him.

Danielle wondered how Zoe had dealt with this, odds are she had seen dozens if not hundreds of Hunters fall in combat over the millennia. She promised herself to toughen up, like Phoebe had tried to tell her, if she could move on, she could focus on the quest and rescue Lady Artemis.

Danielle sighed, "Bianca died a hero's death. I hope she finds Elysium." She put her face in her hands and didn't say anything else.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well as it was a dead end.

Thalia got out and slammed the door shut. Immediately, one of the tires blew out. "Great, now what?"

Everyone looked around but couldn't see much, just desert in all directions with the occasional mountain in the distance. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe only about fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below them.

"There's a path," said Grover. "We could get to the river."

Danielle looked and saw the path that Grover was referring to. "Grover, that's a goat path." With magic she could probably make it, possibly Zoe as well, but that would leave the others behind.

Grover looked confused, "so?"

"The rest of us aren't goats," said Percy.

"We can make it," said Grover. "I think."

They all thought about it. Cliffs weren't that hard but the look on Thalia's face was clear. No heights.

"No," said Percy. "I, uh, think we should go farther upstream."

"But-"

"Come on, a walk won't hurt us."

Thalia sent a quick _thank you_ look at Percy. That just confirmed Danielle's suspicion that she hated heights. Ironic for a daughter of Zeus.

After following the river for about half a mile, they found an easier slope to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season. Leaving a few golden drachmas and a note saying IOU two canoes, they put the boats in the water.

"We need to go upstream," Zoe said. It was the first time they'd heard her speak since the junkyard and she sounded horrible, like she had the flu. "The rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me," said Percy.

As they got ready, Danielle looked at Zoe. She was so quiet that she had to say something.

"Zoe, are you alright?"

Zoe jumped slightly but nodded. She sighed, "my apologies, Danielle, just thinking."

Danielle knew it was more than that though. "Zoe, you're my sister, you can tell me anything, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Zoe sharply.

Frowning at being brushed off like that by someone she saw as an older sister, she joined Thalia in her canoe.

Thalia nodded to her, "asked Percy to ride with Zoe. Maybe he can cheer her up."

Danielle smirked. Percy was so laid back and clueless that he might be exactly what Zoe needed. She got into the canoe with Thalia and Grover while Zoe was forced to be with Percy.

Percy was going to do his 'son of Poseidon thing' when it turned out he didn't need to. A few naiads were staring at them. Other than the fact that they were underwater, they looked like any other teenage girl one would find at a mall. After a lot of giggling, Percy was able to convince them to help and they each grabbed a canoe. Within moments, they were speeding up the river.

Grover fell on his furry butt, they were moving so fast. He righted himself as soon as possible but Thalia and Danielle both burst out laughing.

Grover blushed, "not funny."

Thalia smirked, "sure it wasn't," she said sarcastically.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a splash of water from the other canoe and Zoe's face was wet. It seemed that a naiad had splashed her.

"She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow but Percy was able to calm her down before she could put an arrow through their help's faces.

Thalia shook her head, "wherever did you find her Danielle?"

Danielle shrugged, "in the wilderness of Wales before some hellhounds could kill me. Why?"

Thalia actually looked curious, "just wanted to know how a magic user who had never heard of the gods joined the Hunt."

Danielle looked at the water for a moment before answering. "My parents disowned me right after I turned thirteen. I had no money, no friends to turn to, and no help. If Zoe hadn't found me and brought me to lady Artemis I have no idea what would have happened.

"My parents and brother are minor celebrities in magical Britain while I was pushed into the background. I became the one that no one wanted to deal with. It was like my parents had their legacy in my brother, why would they need me? Only one of my parent's old school friends treated me with any kind of respect.

"Even when I saved my school from a killer monster that had petrified several students, I was ignored in favor of my brother. He spun some stupid story of how he had managed to defeat the monster while I hadn't done anything. In reality, I dealt with the monster while my idiot of a brother was knocked out for the entire fight. My parents didn't believe a word of what I said and threw me out of the house that summer."

Thalia and Grover were silent for a moment before Thalia spoke. "I ran away from home when I was nine. My mom wasn't the most stable and I couldn't take it anymore. For the first few months, I was alone and scared, fighting monsters and trying to find my next meal.

"I ran into a son of Hermes named Luke and we hit it off at once. He ran away from home as well and had done pretty well against monsters. He was eleven."

"Wait," said Danielle. "Didn't this Luke join Kronos?" She remembered what Percy had said at the Smithsonian.

Thalia sighed, "He was like a brother to me. When I was twelve and he was fourteen, we ran into a daughter of Athena. Annabeth was only seven and was fending off monsters with a hammer when we found her. Luke and I pretty much took her in as our sister.

"Since we brought in Annabeth, Athena decided to help us out by sending us a guide to Camp."

Grover brayed sadly, "fat lot of help that did us."

Thalia smacked his arm, "Grover, I don't blame you and neither did Luke or Annabeth! Anyway, it was mostly Luke's fault. I had been injured in a fight and Luke was forced to take us to his mom's place. He talked to his dad but he never told me what they spoke of. After that, Luke became more impulsive, challenging any monster we came across. I doubt Annabeth thought anything was wrong, she saw him as her idol.

"When we finally got to half-blood hill, monsters sent from Hades were after us. After some wrong turns and Luke slowing us down, I sacrificed myself to save the others. Dad turning me into a pine tress to prevent me from dying." She still looked annoyed at that.

Grover nodded sadly, "the council of Cloven Elders blamed me. They said I should have done more."

Thalia shook her head, "the Cloven Elders are idiots. Anyway, Luke apparently took my supposed death hard and he blamed the gods for letting me die. Since I was brought back last summer, I found out he joined the Titans. Partially my fault since I never really spoke well of the gods around him either."

Danielle had taken in the story Thalia told her without interruption but she had to wonder. Thalia had sacrificed herself to save her friends at twelve. All she had managed to do at that age was kill a basilisk and an evil diary thingy.

"You're definitely brave, Thalia, I have no idea if I could do that at your age." She was silent for a moment; "you really think that Luke will leave Kronos if he finds you're still alive?"

Thalia shrugged, "I hope so. Hope is all I got left."

Before anyone could say anything else, the naiads got their attention and they could see why. A huge dam right in front of them was blocking the sun.

"Hoover Dam," said Thalia as everyone got out of the canoes along the edge of the river. "It's huge."

Huge was an understatement. The dam was the size of a football stadium. The people walking along the top of the dam looked like ants.

The naiads left with a lot of grumbling. While they couldn't understand them, it was obvious that they hated this dam blocking their nice river. The canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake of the dam's discharge vents.

"Seven hundred feet tall," said Percy. "Built in the 1930's."

"Five million cubic acres of water," said Thalia.

Grover sighed, "Largest construction project in the United States."

Zoe and Danielle stared at them, each other, than them again. "How do you know all that?" asked Zoe.

"Annabeth," said Percy simply. "She liked architecture."

"She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said.

"Sprouted facts all the time," Grover sniffled. "So annoying."

"I wish she was here," said Percy sadly.

The others nodded. Zoe and Danielle looked at them strangely but didn't comment. It was clear that they missed their friend and wanted to remember her.

"We should go up there," said Percy. "For her sake. Just to say we've been."

"You are mad," Zoe decided, shaking her head. "But that's where the road is," she pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is."

Danielle nodded, "and you'll be able to show Annabeth around when you bring her here yourselves."

The others seemed to like that idea.

It took almost an hour walk before they found a path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river. They then had to straggle back toward the dam. It was cold and windy at the top so Danielle was forced to use a warming charm on them all. On one side of the path, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feel below, the water churning from the dam's vents.

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything but everyone knew he smelled monsters.

"How close are they?" asked Percy.

Grover shook his head, "maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us…the scent can possibly carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."

Percy looked anxious but nodded. Danielle didn't like it either. Lady Artemis had to be freed by the winter solstice, that was only two days away. Without her at the meeting Olympus would waste more war-preparation time.

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," said Thalia suddenly.

"You've been here before?" asked Percy.

"Once, to see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," Thalia said. "A gift from Athena."

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.

"What are they doing?" asked Percy.

"Rubbing the toes," Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas."

"Got that right," said Danielle, who had been listening. "I was in Edinburgh in Scotland once and they had a few statues like that. Tourists would do the exact same thing."

Thalia nodded, "Mortals get crazy sometimes. Anyway, these tourists don't know that these statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

"When you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?" asked Percy.

Thalia's expression darkened, showing that that had was exactly the reason why she had come here. Looking for a sign from her dad. Some connection. "No, they don't do anything. They're just big metal statues."

Percy grimaced, as if thinking of the last big metal statue they had met.

"Let's get to the dam snack bar," Zoe suggested. "We should eat while we can."

Grover cracked a smile, "the dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked, "yes, what is funny?"

"Nothing," said Grover, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam French fries."

Even Thalia and Danielle smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom," said Thalia.

Danielle was trying not to full burst out into laughter, "remember to use the dam sink when you're done."

Maybe it was the fact that they were so tired and strung emotionally, but everyone started cracking up. Zoe just stared at them, "I don't understand."

That only made them laugh harder. "I want to use the dam water fountain," said Grover.

"And…" Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt."

By now everyone had broken down laughing. Zoe was the only one who was still trying to work out why they were laughing, looking confused.

Suddenly, both Percy and Grover stopped laughing, smiles melting off their faces.

Grover looked confused. "Did I just hear a cow?"

That sounded so random that Danielle calmed down enough to focus.

"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.

"No," Grover said. "I'm serious."

It took all of Danielle's willpower not to say: 'no, my supposed godfather is Sirius!'

Zoe listened, "I hear nothing."

Thalia looked at Percy, who was concentrating hard on something. "Percy, are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Percy slowly. "You guys go ahead. I'll be right in."

"What's wrong?" asked Grover.

"Nothing. I…I just need a minute to think." Percy sounded distracted.

The others hesitated, seeing that he looked upset, but they finally went into the visitor center without him.

"So, what's up with Percy?" asked Danielle. The visitor center was full of people. Tour guides were leading tourists around, telling them about the area and how the turbines worked. Various exhibits were lined along the walls. The café and snack bar was obvious though and that was where they were headed.

Thalia shook her head, "who knows what goes on in that head full of kelp?"

Grover, still slightly confused about hearing a cow of all things, was more interested in food at the moment. "Awesome! They have Guacamole Grandes!" he pointed at the snack bar's signature burrito.

Zoe shrugged, "get whatever thou wants. A simple salad for me."

Danielle nodded, "whatever, I don't care, just something big."

Grover nodded and left with Thalia to order the food. The two Hunters managed to find a table that was free just in time and sat down.

"So," said Danielle, rubbing her hands together. "You've been quiet all day. Anything you want to talk about?"

Zoe instantly looked uncomfortable as she looked at the younger hunter. "No, just the loss of Bianca is all."

Danielle nodded, rubbing her face with her hand. "Zoe, you know we don't blame you, right? Bianca died to protect us, it was her choice, and I respect that. If anything, it was my fault for not talking her out of going through with the plan."

Zoe still looked uncomfortable, like she hadn't told Danielle everything. "Percy said it wasn't my fault either. Bianca was a powerful demigod and I feel like I pushed her too hard too soon. I just thought she would make a good replacement lieutenant."

Danielle stared at her guilty face. "Zoe, you're the lieutenant. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Zoe was shifting in her seat, looking everywhere but Danielle. "Nothing lasts forever Danielle. I have led the Hunt for over two thousand years, but-"

Her speech was cut off by Grover and Thalia, loaded with burritos, a salad and fountain drinks, collapsed into their seats.

Danielle gave Zoe a look that said that they were going to talk about it later, after their dam lunch.

They were just about to start when Percy came bursting into the café, looking scared and sword drawn.

"We need to leave," Percy gasped as he approached them. "Now!"

"But we just got our burritos!" Thalia said.

Zoe apparently caught onto what Percy had seen though. Muttering an Ancient Greek curse, she stood up. "He's right! Look."

The café windows wrapped around the observation floor, which would have looked nice if it wasn't for the skeleton warriors coming to kill them.

Two of them were on the east side of the dam road, blocking the way to Arizona. Two more on the west side, guarding Nevada. All of them armed with batons and pistols.

Suddenly three more appeared from the stairs. They looked at Percy from across the cafeteria and clattered their teeth.

"Elevator!" said Grover. They bolted in that direction, but the doors opened with a pleasant _ding_, and two more warriors stepped out. Every warrior was now accounted for, minus the ones that Bianca and Danielle had blasted to flames in New Mexico. They were completely surrounded.

Before they could get their weapons. Grover had a brilliant idea.

"Burrito fight!" he yelled and flung his Guacamole Grande at the nearest skeleton.

Danielle had to see it to believe it but flying burritos were apparently pretty dangerous projectiles. Grover's lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean off its shoulders. Zeus knows what the other kids in the café saw, but they went nuts. Throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and sodas at each other, shrieking and screaming.

The skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless. Bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere.

Not wanting to create fire in a crowded café, Danielle made a roundhouse kick that Phoebe had taught her with Zoe and knocked a few skeletons out of the way. Percy and Thalia tackled the two others blocking their way out on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table. They all raced downstairs, Guacamole Grandes whizzing past their heads.

"What now?" asked Grover as they burst outside.

No one had an answer. The warriors on the road were closing in from multiple directions. Their brethren from the café were closing in to join them. One was still putting its head back on its shoulders. Two more were covered in ketchup and mustard. Two others had burritos lodged in their rib cages. None of them looked happy as they drew their batons and pistols.

"Five against nine," muttered Zoe. "And only one of us can kill them."

"Its been nice adventuring with you guys," said Grover, his voice trembling.

Danielle took in a deep breath. "Guys, I'm the only one who can do any real damage to them. I'll hold them off, find some way out of here." She brought out her wand.

Zoe's eyes widened, "no, we shall fight together."

Danielle knew that she was having a Bianca flashback but this wasn't the time. She took in another breath. "What choice is there? Find some way out of here. I have an idea that will buy us some time."

Thalia looked like she didn't like it but pulled the others back.

When they were out of the line of fire, Danielle waved her wand over her head in great circles, torrents of flames coming out forming a ring around her. Everyone yelped and jumped back, unable to watch the great ten-foot ring of flames that rushed around the red headed hunter.

The skeleton warriors jumped back but three of them weren't lucky enough to avoid the fire. They caught a flame and turned to dust, blowing away from the wind caused by the circle of flames.

Danielle's face was beaded with sweat, this was tiring and she was running out of energy fast. She had heard that Dumbledore was capable of doing something like this but he was a full-grown adult. She was stuck with the body and magic of a thirteen-year-old girl.

While the tourists were running from the fire and the skeletons were trying to find a weak point in the ring of fire blocking their way, Percy was thinking. They were backed against the statues they had seen coming in.

Something shiny got Percy's attention, "whoa, their toes really are bright."

"Percy," said Thalia. "Now isn't the time!" She was watching as the torrents of flames were getting weaker but Danielle was still swinging her wand over her head, keeping the ring alive.

Percy was staring at the statues. Their bodies were weathered brown except for their toes, which were shining like new pennies from people rubbing them for good luck. Wait, good luck?

Good luck. The blessing of Zeus.

"Thalia, pray to your dad."

Thalia glared at him. "He never answers."

"Just this once," Percy pleaded. "I have a feeling that he will this time. I think the statues will give us some luck."

Several gun shots got their attention. Several skeletons had gotten of waiting and had fired. The bullets sailed toward Danielle but the fire was hot enough to slow and then melt them before they hit her.

"Do it!" Percy yelled.

"No!" yelled Thalia. "He won't answer me."

"This time is different!"

"Who says?"

Percy seemed to remember something. "Athena, I think."

Thalia frowned at him like he had gone crazy.

"Just try it!" yelled Grover.

Thalia closed her eyes, concentrating on sending a message to her dad. Percy was hoping that the tour guide lady from before was really Athena giving them help so they could save her daughter.

Nothing happened.

Danielle's fire was getting weaker, she was panting heavily. Finally she out a small burst of fire that staggered the skeletons back a few feet but it wasn't enough to stop them. Putting away her wand just in time, Danielle collapsed, slumping to the ground in front of them.

"Danielle!" Everyone got out their weapons. Zoe got out her bow and aimed at the skeletons that were now advancing on them, focusing on Percy instead of the passed out girl in front of them. Thalia got out her spear and shield while Percy uncapped Riptide.

A shadow suddenly fell over them all. Looking around they saw it was the shadow of an enormous bronze wing. The skeletons looked up too late and the remaining six skeletons were swept aside, their bones flying.

"Man, it feels good to stand up!" said the first angel. His voice sounded tinny and rusty, like he hadn't spoken in a while.

"Would you look at my toes!" said the other. "Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?"

As stunned as they were from the statues coming to life, Percy was more interested in the danger they were in. Some of the skeletons were already coming back.

"Trouble!"

"Get us out of here!" yelled Thalia.

Both angels looked at her. "Zeus's kid?"

Thalia nodded.

"Can I get a _please_, Miss Zeus's kid?"

"Please!"

The angels looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could use a stretch," one said.

The next thing they knew, one of the statues grabbed Percy, Thalia and Danielle, who Zoe had handed to him, while the other grabbed her and Grover. They took off into the sky. The few skeletons that had managed to come back fired at them but the bullets just bounced off the statues' wings. They flew over the dam and river and headed for the mountains in the west.

"Tell me when it's over," Thalia said. Her eyes were shut tight. The statues were holding them so it was impossible to fall, but Thalia was still holding onto the arm of the statue as if it was the most important thing in the world.

Danielle was still passed out next to her. They had been flying for maybe half an hour but she was still unconscious, like using that much magic had depleted her energy. The statue was holding onto her more securely than the others due to her dead weight.

"Everything's fine," Percy reassured Thalia.

"Are…are we very high?"

Percy looked down. Below them was a range of snowy mountains speeding by. Percy stretched down a little and managed to kick off some snow from one of the peaks.

"Nah, not that high."

"We are in the Sierras!" Zoe yelled at them. She and Grover were hanging onto the arms from the other statue. "I have gone hunting here before. At this rate, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours."

"Hey, hey, Frisco!" our angel said. "Yo Chuck! We could visit those guys at the Mechanics Monument again! Those guys know how to party!"

"Oh, man, I am so there," said Chuck.

"You guys have visited San Francisco?" asked Percy.

"We automatons have to have some fun once in a while, right?" said his angel. "Those mechanics took us to the de Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. And-"

"Hank!" yelled Chuck. "They're kids, man!"

"Oh, right." If bronze statues could blush, than Hank definitely was. "Back to flying."

They sped up, which told them that the angels were excited. The mountains fell away to hills, then they were zipping across farmland, towns and highways.

Grover played on his pipes a little to pass the time. Zoe got bored and started shooting at random billboards as they flew by. Every time she saw a Target billboard or truck she would nail a perfect bulls eye as they were going around a hundred miles an hour. Percy started telling Thalia how he had wound up in the generator room at Hoover Dam and how he had managed to escape the skeletons that had chased him down there.

Thalia kept her eyes shut the entire way, muttering under her breath so she sounded like she was praying.

"You did good back there," said Percy. "Zeus listened." Thalia didn't open her eyes so it was hard to tell what she was thinking.

"Maybe," she was looking at Danielle's general direction since her eyes were closed. "How did you get away from those skeletons in the generator room? You said that they cornered you."

"Met some weird girl named Rachel," said Percy. "She sneezed at the wrong time and I tried to kill her with Riptide but the blade went right through her. Seeing that she was mortal, I was surprised when she told me that she could see the skeletons for what they were. It was like she could see through the Mist. She sent the skeletons in another direction so I could grab the elevator out of there."

He looked like Thalia was going to call him crazy but she surprised him by nodding.

"Yeah, some mortals are like that. They can see right through the Mist as if it wasn't there. I bet Danielle is like that Rachel girl, or maybe it's because she was born with magic, I don't know but no one knows why."

Suddenly Percy started to realize something. His mom was like that. She had seen the Minotaur for what it was at Half-blood hill before he could. She had also seen his half-brother Tyson as a Cyclops right away, which would explain how she wasn't surprised at all when he had told her. No wonder she was so afraid of various monsters when he was growing up, she had seen them all more clearly than he ever could.

"Well, the girl was annoying," said Percy, thinking about Rachel. "But I'm glad I didn't vaporize her. That would have been bad."

Thalia nodded, "must be good to be a regular mortal."

She had said that as if she had given it a lot of thought.

A sudden movement got both of their attentions.

"Ugh, where are we?" Danielle had come to after about two hours of being out of it. "Why does my head hurt?"

"I think you used too much magic," said Percy. "You passed out but we're safe for now."

Danielle nodded, though it looked like it gave her a headache. "Good, where are…" she started focusing more on her surroundings. She was wedged between a metal arm and Thalia and was currently flying through the air. "Ahhhh! Where are we? What's going on?"

Percy couldn't help it, he started laughing a little, "relax, Thalia got us some help right after you passed out. We're on our way to San Francisco right now."

Danielle was now looking around frantically, her brain still running a little slow, before accepting what Percy had told her as the truth. Still breathing quickly, her heart rate going crazy, she managed to calm down a little.

"What happened?"

"Well," said Thalia. "You apparently used the last of your energy protecting us from the skeletons using fire magic. Percy got me to ask my dad for help and he brought the statues here to life. They're currently taking us to San Francisco."

Danielle nodded, her heart still beating frantically. She had used too much magic so her magical core was still recharging. It would take a while for her to use even basic magic. "How much longer until we get to San Francisco?"

Hank answered, "about two or three more hours. By the way, good to see you awake."

Stunned at seeing a talking statue, Danielle did the most responsible thing.

"Excuse me for a moment but I think I'm going to pass out again." Before anyone could say anything, she slumped in Hank's arms, totally asleep from everything that had happened recently.

Hank sighed, "well, it was nice while it lasted."

"Where you guys want to land?" asked Hank about two and a half hours later, waking both Percy and Danielle from their naps.

Percy looked down, "whoa."

San Francisco was below them in all its glory. In terms of city standards, it was like a smaller, cleaner Manhattan, if Manhattan was surrounded by green hills and fog. There was a huge bay with ships, islands and sailboats in the water. The Golden Gate Bridge was in the distance, sticking up out of the fog.

"I have never gotten why the Golden Gate Bridge is red, not gold," Danielle mused. "Crazy Americans."

"There," said Zoe, stopping Percy and Thalia from yelling at Danielle for her comment. "The Embarcadero building."

"Good thinking, Chuck and I can blend in with the pigeons."

Everyone looked at him.

"What, metal statues can't have a sense of humor?"

As it turned out, they didn't need much blending in. It was early morning and there were very few people around. They freaked out a homeless guy on the docks though, him yelling about metal men from Mars.

They said good-bye to the angels, who looked like they wanted to go party with some female statues.

Danielle smiled; they were at the west coast. Lady Artemis was somewhere around this city. It was the last day to rescue her, the next day was the twenty-first, the winter solstice, they needed to save the goddess soon. Tentatively, she tried her magic and found herself running on empty. Shrugging, she figured she did deserve it. That trick with the fire ring was for a fully-grown adult, not a forever thirteen-year-old girl. It would take a few days of rest and full meals before she was back to normal.

"So, what now?" asked Percy.

"Now we need to know what monster lady Artemis was hunting," said Zoe. "Once we know that, the better prepared we are."

"But how?" asked Percy.

"Nereus," said Grover.

Percy looked at him, "what?"

"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do? Find Nereus?"

Percy nodded, "yeah, the old man of the sea. I'm supposed to find him and make him tell us what he knows. But where is he?"

Zoe made a face, "old Nereus eh?"

"You know him?" asked Thalia.

Zoe nodded, "my mother was a sea goddess, yes I know him. Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Danielle, not happy by how that sounded.

"Come," said Zoe with no enthusiasm. "I will show thee."

Ten minutes later, Zoe had found a Goodwill drop box and rummaged for something in it. Dragging Percy away from the others, they worked for about five minutes until Zoe seemed to find herself satisfied. Zoe had dressed Percy in a ragged flannel shirt, jeans about three sizes too big for him, bright red sneakers and a large floppy rainbow hat.

"Oh, yeah," said Grover, who was clearly trying not to burst out laughing. "You look really inconspicuous now."

Zoe looked proud of herself, "a typical male vagrant."

Danielle and Thalia were now holding onto each other to keep themselves from falling down laughing. Percy looked so bad, that it reminded Danielle of the last time she had seen witches and wizards try to blend in with Muggles. They had no clue. She had even seen an old man wearing a nightgown in broad daylight and that was one of the better ones.

Percy looked disgruntled, "great, why am I wearing this again?"

"I told thee. To blend in."

With eyes gleaming with obvious mirth, like she was enjoying herself way too much, Zoe led the way back to the waterfront. After a long time spent searching for the docks, Zoe finally stopped. She pointed toward a pier where lines of homeless guys huddled in blankets were waiting for their lunch from a soup kitchen.

"He will be down there," said Zoe. "He never goes very far away from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."

"How do I know which one is him?"

"Sneak up on him," she said. "Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell…different."

"Great," Percy didn't seem very enthusiastic about the plan. "And once I find him?"

"Grab him," she said. "And hold on. He will try anything to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell you about the monster."

"We've got your back," said Thalia. She then picked up a huge clump of fuzz from the back of his shirt that came from who-knows-where. "Eww, on second thought, I don't got your back. But we're be rooting for you."

Grover gave him a thumbs-up.

Percy grumbled something about having such wonderful, super powerful friends before walking off.

When Percy was out of earshot, Danielle laughed softly. "You were enjoying yourself way too much Zoe."

Zoe grinned, "I must have some fun every now and then."

They watched Percy from a distance as he approached the various homeless guys waiting in line. One guy was their homeless friend from before that was probably telling them about an upcoming alien invasion.

A couple of grimy guys were wearing plastic bags for hats but didn't seem weird in any other sense.

One lady had crazy shocked hair with several pink plastic flamingos in a grocery cart. She glared at Percy, like he was trying to steal her birds, before he moved on.

At the end of the pier was a guy that looked like he was about a million years old. He had shocking yellow-white hair and beard, and was wearing what seemed to be pajamas and a bathrobe that used to be white. He was fat and Percy seemed to wince a little at his smell.

Danielle cocked her head to the side, "is that the dark side of Santa?" The man did look like a grubby homeless version of Santa Claus.

Zoe shook her head, smiling. "I think Percy found him."

They watched as Percy tried to act causally, sitting with Santa/Nereus and trying to blend in. The old guy seemed to be sleeping but it turned out to be an act when they both grabbed onto each other. Santa seemed to be winning.

"Help, help me!" said Santa as he was strangling Percy.

"Yeah, that's a crime," said one of the homeless guys. "Kid rolling an old man like that."

Thalia groaned, "Great, Nereus is altering the Mist to help himself."

They nodded as Percy and Santa rolled off the pier and into a post. Wincing as Percy's head collided with the post, Santa tried to run for it but Percy tackled him from behind.

"I don't have any money!" yelled Santa as Percy pinned his arms behind his back.

"I don't want any money," said Percy. "I'm a half-blood, I want information!"

That only made Santa struggle harder. They wrestled harder, Santa trying to shake Percy off, when they both fell off the pier and into the water below.

The others ran after them, trying to keep them in sight but the water was too murky to see anything.

Thalia shrugged, "at least Percy's a kid of the sea god. Bet Nereus didn't count on that."

Zoe nodded, "true, Percy should win this."

The water suddenly bubbled and Percy came shooting out of the water, holding onto the dorsal fin of a huge killer whale.

The tourists all took pictures and shouted, "whoa!"

Percy just waved back like, _"yeah, we do this all the time in San Francisco."_

Thalia grumbled as Percy fell back into the sea, "great, thanks dad, why don't I have cool powers like that?"

They laughed lightly as Percy apparently won the fight as Nereus fell onto the boat dock, completely winded.

"You got him!" yelled Zoe as if she was surprised he managed to do it.

"You don't have to be so shocked," said Percy, looking full of energy as he walked out of the ocean.

Nereus realized that they weren't alone. "Great, witnesses for my humiliation. The normal deal? You let me go in exchange for answering your question?"

"We have a few more than just one question," said Percy.

"Only one question per capture. That's the rule."

Percy looked at them all.

Danielle remembered that he had apparently only come on this quest in the first place to rescue his friend Annabeth. That was why Aphrodite had come to talk to him, to talk to him about his friend.

Percy looked conflicted about which question to ask. Should he ask about the quest or about Annabeth? Personally, Danielle was sure that wherever lady Artemis was, Annabeth was too. But they needed to know what monster they were up against the most.

Percy sighed. "All right, Nereus. Tell me about the monster that could bring about the end of the gods. The one that Artemis was hunting."

The old man of the sea smiled, showing off his mossy green teeth.

"Oh, that is just too easy," he said evilly. "He's right there."

He pointed at the water at Percy's feet.

"Where?" asked Percy.

"The deal is complete." Nereus turned into a goldfish with a pop and did a black flip into the water.

"You tricked me!" yelled Percy.

"Wait," said Thalia, looking where Nereus had told them. "What is _that_?"

"MOOOOOO!"

They looked down and Danielle saw the strangest monster she had ever seen. It had the front half of a cow, a calf to be exact, and the back half of a serpent. The front half had black fur, big sad brown eyes and a white muzzle. The snake half was long, eel like, and had long fins.

The cow serpent was nuzzling Percy's leg, looking at him with its big brown eyes.

"Ah Bessie, not now," said Percy.

"Mooo!"

Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."

Percy looked at him, "you can understand her… err, him?"

Grover nodded, "it's a very old form of animal speech. He says that his name is the Ophiotaurus."

"The Ophio-what?"

"It means bull serpent in Ancient Greek," said Thalia. "But what is it doing here?"

Danielle looked confused; this was one ancient myth she didn't know.

"Mooooooo!"

"He says that Percy is his protector," said Grover. "And he's running from bad people. He says that they're close."

How the heck did Grover get all of that from a single moo? Danielle decided to put that thought away for now, she had been a parseltounge at one point, and could talk to snakes. What was the power to talk to cows in comparison?

"Wait," said Zoe, looking at Percy. "You know this cow?"

Percy looked impatient but nodded. "Yeah, just before this quest I got a call about a baby monster getting caught in a fisherman's net. I managed to free it from the net and I guess he's been following me ever since. He appeared at Hoover Dam as well as here."

Thalia shook her head, "and you just forgot to mention any of this before?"

"Well…yeah." In retrospect, the idea of a baby cow serpent did pale in comparison to saving a goddess from her Titan enslavers.

"I am such a fool!" Zoe said suddenly. "I know this story!"

"What story?" asked Danielle. She knew so many stories of Greek Mythology that not knowing this one was bugging her.

"From the war of the Titans," she said. "My…my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. This is the beast we are searching for."

Everyone looked at Bessie, who was giving everyone the big cow eyes. "Bessie?" asked Percy. "He's too cute to destroy the world."

Zoe shook her head, "and that is how we were wrong. We've been anticipating a large, dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus doesn't bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."

"MMMMM," said Bessie in a low tone.

"I don't think he likes the s-word," said Grover.

Percy scratched Bessie on the head and behind the ear. He looked better, but was still shaking.

"Who would want to hurt Bessie? He's harmless."

Danielle suddenly got a flashback, a memory from Hogwarts that might help them. "Always the innocent are the first victims," she muttered. She looked at them, "there is a great power in sacrificing the innocent isn't there?" She would have to thank the Hogwarts centaurs for that lesson.

Zoe nodded, "terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy eons ago when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotuarus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would gain the power to overthrow the gods."

"MMMMMM!"

"Um, I think we should avoid talking about _entrails_ too," said Grover.

Thalia looked at Bessie with wonder. "The power to overthrow the gods…how? I mean, what would happen?"

Zoe shook her head, "no one knows. The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was killed by a giant ally of the Titans. But thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails before it could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus has been reborn."

Thalia sat down on the dock, reaching her hand out to Bessie. Bessie gladly went up to her. She patted his head. Bessie shivered.

Danielle didn't like the look on Thalia's face. It seemed almost…hungry.

"We have to protect him," said Percy. "If Luke gets his hands on Bessie-"

"Luke wouldn't hesitate," Thalia muttered. "The power to overthrow the Olympus. That's…huge."

"Yes it is, my dear," said a voice in a heavy French accent. "And it is a power _you_ shall unleash."

The Ophiotaurus whimpered and submerged in the water.

Everyone turned around, they had been standing in one spot for so long that they had allowed themselves to be ambushed.

Standing behind them, his two colored eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr. Thorn, the manticore himself.

Dr. Thorn took in the moment to stare at them all. "Oh, this is just pairrr-fect," he gloated.

He was wearing a ratty black trench coat over his Westover Hall uniform, which was torn and stained. His military haircut had grown out spiky and greasy. He hadn't shaved recently so his face was covered in silver stubble. Basically, he didn't look much better than the guys at the soup kitchen.

"Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia," the manticore said. "I was forced to scrounge for food at the edge of the world, hiding in forests, feeding on insignificant human farmers for my meals. I didn't get to fight any great heroes. I was not feared or admired in the old stories! But now that will change. The Titans will honor me and I shall feast on the flesh of Half-Bloods."

On either side of him stood two armed security guards, more of the mercenaries they had seen in D.C. Two more stood on the next dock over, just in case they tried to escape that way. There were tourists everywhere- shopping in the various stores on the pier- though they knew that that wouldn't stop Dr. Thorn from attacking.

"Where…where are the skeletons?" asked Percy.

Dr. Thorn sneered, "I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

Danielle was thinking quickly. Her magic meter was still on empty, though it was slowly refilling, it wasn't enough to help in this fight. Percy could escape with Bessie, but that would leave the rest of them. The only way out was to fight and she didn't like their chances.

"We beat you once before," said Percy.

"Hah! You could barely fight me with a goddess on your side! And alas…that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. There will be no help for you now."

Zoe and Danielle each notched an arrow, aiming right at the manticore for talking about lady Artemis like that. The guards on either side of Thorn each took out their handguns.

"Wait," said Percy. "Zoe, Danielle, don't!"

The manticore smiled, "the boy is right, Zoe Nightshade and Danielle No-Name. Put away your bows. It would be a shame to kill you both before you could witness Thalia's great victory."

"What are you talking about?" asked Thalia, her spear and shield ready.

"Surely it is clear," said the manticore. "This is your moment. This is why Kronos brought you back to life. You will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. You will gain unlimited power. And for your sixteenth birthday, you will overthrow Olympus."

No one spoke. It made terrible sense. Thalia was only two days away from turning sixteen. She was a child of the big three. And here was a choice, a terrible choice that could mean the end of the gods. It was just like in the prophecy that the gods liked to talk about, particularly Apollo, when they wanted to tick off every non-god out there. Danielle didn't know the whole prophecy but she knew enough from Apollo that she got the gist of it. Doomsday was coming.

Everyone waited for Thalia to shout at the manticore, to threaten him, or something. When they turned to look at her though, they saw that she was completely stunned.

"You know it is the right choice," said the manticore. "Your friend Luke recognized it. You shall be reunited with him. You shall rule this world with the auspices the Titans. Your father abandoned you, Thalia. He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him. Crush the Olympians underfoot as they deserve. Call the beast. It will come to you. Use your spear."

"Thalia! Snap out of it!" yelled Percy.

She looked at Percy strangely; dazed, uncertain, and confused. It was almost as if she didn't know him. "I…I don't-"

"Your father helped you," said Percy. "He sent the metal angels to protect us. He turned you into a pine tree to preserve you."

Her hand tightened on the shaft of her spear.

Percy looked at Grover desperately. Luckily, he seemed to know what Percy wanted. He pulled out his pipes and played a quick riff.

The manitcore yelled, "stop them!"

The guards had been targeting Zoe and Danielle, and before they could tell that the kid with the pipes was the bigger threat, the wooden planks they were standing on grew new branches and tangled their legs. Zoe and Danielle each fired two arrows each at the guards, releasing clouds of sulfurous yellow smoke. Fart arrows!

The guards started coughing. The manticore shot spines in their direction but they bounced harmlessly off of Percy's lion fur coat.

"Grover," said Percy. "Tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down."

"Moooo," Grover translated. Hoping that Bessie got the message, Thalia seemed to come out of the trance she was in.

"The, the cow…" muttered Thalia.

"Come on!" Percy yelled, dragging her up the stairs to the shopping center of the pier. Dashing around the corner of the closest store, they could hear the manticore yelling at his minions, "Get them!" Tourists started screaming as the guards started firing randomly.

They scrambled to the end of the pier, hiding behind a little kiosk filled with souvenir crystals-wind chimes and dream catchers and the like, glittering in the sunlight. There was a fountain next to them. Down below, a group of sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks. The whole of San Francisco Bay was spread out below them, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the green hills and fog beyond that to the north. A picture perfect moment, except they were about to die and the world was going to end.

"Go over the side," said Zoe to Percy. "You can escape in the sea. Call on your father for help, maybe you can save the Ophiotaurus."

Percy looked determined and shook his head, "I won't leave you guys. We fight together."

"You have to get word to camp," said Grover. "At least let them know what's going on."

Danielle realized the answer, "Iris Message!"

Percy understood immediately and uncapped Riptide. He slashed the top of the fountain, making water burst out of the pipe and all over them.

Thalia gasped as the water hit her, like it had shaken off the last of her trance. "Percy!"

Grover had pulled out a golden drachma and threw it through the rainbow created by the mist. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept our offering."

The coin vanished.

"Camp Half-Blood!" said Percy.

Shining in the mist was the last person they wanted to see: Mr. D, wearing his leopard skin jogging suit and rummaging through a refrigerator.

He looked up lazily, "do you mind?"

"Where's Chiron?" Percy shouted.

"How rude." Mr. D took a swig from a jug of grape juice. "Is that how you say hello?"

"Hello," said Percy sarcastically. "We're about to die! Where's Chiron?"

Mr. D seemed to consider that. Everyone seemed to want to scream at him to hurry up and tell them anything but knew it wouldn't do anything but make him want to cut the connection entirely.

_'How did a god of wine get on the Council?'_ thought Danielle. '_What possible purpose could wine bring to the Olympians?'_

While Mr. D was still thinking of whether or not he should help them, the Manticore was getting closer, barking orders.

"About to die," Mr. D mused, as if he didn't care at all, which he probably didn't. "How exciting. Chiron is not here at the moment. Would you like me to take a message?"

Percy looked at them, "we're dead."

Thalia gripped her spear shaft tight, looking like her old angry self again. "Then we'll die fighting."

"How noble," said Mr. D, who was stifling a yawn. "So what is the problem exactly?"

Percy rolled his eyes, "fine, we got the Ophiotaurus here that needs to get to Olympus or somewhere away from the west coast."

"Hmm," Mr. D was now looking through the refrigerator, looking through the contents. "So that's it. I see."

Percy looked ready to kill him. "You don't even care!" he screamed. "You'd just as soon watch us die!"

"Let's see. I think I'm in the mood for pizza tonight."

Before anyone could do anything, like try to strangle the lazy god through the Iris Message, there was a sudden shout. The manticore screamed, "There they are!" They were surrounded. Two of the guards were standing on either side of the manticore while the other two appeared on the roofs of the pier shops above them. The manticore threw off his coat to reveal his true self, his lion claws extended and his spiky tail bristling with poisonous barbs.

"Excellent," he said. He then looked at the apparition in the mist and snorted. "Alone, without any _real_ help. Wonderful."

"You could _ask_ for help," said Mr. D, as if it was an amusing thought. "You could say please."

_'Since when do gods ask us to beg for help?'_ wondered Danielle. They were pinned down and the thought of asking Mr. D for help of all people, when he would probably just laugh at them anyway, wasn't an appealing thought.

She and Zoe got out their bows and readied arrows. Grover got out his pipes. Thalia raised her shield, it took a moment but Percy thought he saw a tear on Thalia's face. He then realized that she had gone through this once before, on Half-Blood Hill, trying to save Luke and Annabeth.

Danielle didn't like their chances. Their backs were to the wall, the manticore was too powerful for any of them to take alone while the mortals had guns. She had no energy to cast any kind of spell that could help. She missed Percy whisper something through the Iris Message.

The manticore grinned, "spare the daughter of Zeus, she will join us soon enough. Kill the others."

The men raised their guns. Suddenly a strange feeling came over all of them. Kind of like the feeling of all the blood rushing to their heads, like hanging upside down for a long time then going right side up too quickly. With the sound of something rushing around them with a mighty sigh, the sunlight was tinted purple for a moment. The sudden smell of grapes overcame them, and something more sour-wine.

SNAP!

It was the sound of many minds breaking at the same time. The sound of madness. One guard put his gun between his teeth like it was a bone and started barking. Two more dropped their weapons and started waltzing. One man instantly started doing what could pass as an Irish Clogging dance. It would have been funny if it hadn't been so terrifying.

"No!" shouted the manticore. "I will deal with you myself!"

His tail bristled, but the planks of wood under his paws shuddered and grew grape vines, which instantly began wrapping around the monster's body, sprouting leaves and clusters of grapes that ripened in seconds, as the manticore shrieked, until he was engulfed in a huge mass of vines, leaves, and full clusters of purple grapes. Finally, the vines stopped shivering and they got the feeling that the manticore was no longer with them.

"Well, that was fun," said Mr. D as he closed the door to the refrigerator.

Everyone looked at him horrified. "Mr. D, how could you…how did you-"

"Such gratitude," he muttered. "The mortals will come out of it, too much paperwork if I made their condition permanent. I hate writing reports to father."

He stared resentfully at Thalia, "I hope you learned your lesson, girl. It isn't easy to resist power, is it?"

Thalia blushed as if she were ashamed.

"Mr. D," said Grover in amazement. "You…you just saved us."

"Mmm, don't make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Percy Jackson, I bought you a few hours at most."

"The Ophiotaurus," said Percy. "Can you get it to camp?"

Mr. D sniffed, "I don't transport livestock. That's your problem."

"But where do we go?"

Dionysus looked at Zoe, "oh, I think the huntress knows. You must enter at sundown today, you know, or all is lost. Now good-bye. My pizza is waiting."

"Mr. D," said Percy.

Mr. D raised an eyebrow.

"You called me by my real name. You called me Percy Jackson."

"I most certainly did not, Peter Johnson. Now off with you!"

He cut the connection as he waved his hand through the mist.

All around them, the manticore's minions were still acting completely nuts. One had found their homeless friend from before and was discussing the situation with the metal angels from Mars. The other guards were harassing the tourists, making animal noises and trying to steal their shoes.

Percy looked at Zoe, "What did he mean…'you know where to go'?"

Danielle looked at Zoe, concerned. Zoe's face was the color of fog, looking out over the Golden Gate Bridge. In the distance, a single mountain rose above the cloud layer.

"The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."

Danielle gulped, "Zoe, are you sure about this?"

Zoe shook herself, "I, I will be fine. Let us go."

They quickly ran down to the beachfront and started running along the coast to avoid the tourists. Zoe was frustrated, "we will never make it. We are moving too slowly. And we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo," said Bessie as he swam along as they jogged. They were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge but it was a lot farther away than they had thought at first. The sun was already dipping in the sky.

"I don't get it," said Percy. "Why do we have to be there by sunset?"

Zoe didn't seem to be up to answering so Danielle did so. "We're going to the garden of the Hesperides. The guardians of the golden apple and the nymphs of sunset; because of that, we can only enter the garden as day turns to night."

"What happens if we miss it?"

"We would have to wait until tomorrow night but by then the winter solstice and the meeting would be over. Lady Artemis must be there for the meeting so we have to save her tonight."

Percy grew silent, lost in his own thoughts.

"We need a car," said Thalia.

"But what about Bessie," said Percy, looking at him.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

Percy nodded, "well, yeah. First he appeared in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped up at Hoover Dam and now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," said Grover. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following me," said Percy. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.

"I…I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

Percy stared at him. Grover had some bad memories about water and the ocean.

"It makes sense," said Grover, determined. "I'm the only one that can communicate with him."

He bent down and whispered something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented lowing sound.

"The blessing of the wild," said Grover. "That should grant him safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad too, maybe he could get him safe passage through the seas as well."

Percy shrugged and walked close to the water, closing his eyes as if he was focusing on the waves. "Dad, help us get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," said Thalia. "Something big."

Percy seemed to think about that for a moment, before taking off his lion coat.

"Percy," said Grover. "Are you sure? That lion skin…it's pretty helpful. Hercules used it!"

Danielle scowled, thinking of that hero turned minor god. Hercules was the one of the few heroes that she wouldn't mind shooting an arrow through. He had used Zoe, cast her aside as if she was a broken tool, and made her lose her faith in mankind for a while. She herself didn't hate all men but Hercules and Orion were exceptions, she hated them both.

Zoe herself was looking at Percy carefully. Percy sighed, "If we are going to win this, it won't be because of a lion-skin coat. I'm not Hercules."

He threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a full lion's pelt, flashing in the sun. Then it began to sink into the water, dissolving into the sunlight on the water.

The sea breeze seemed to pick up.

Grover took in a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

He jumped into the water, sinking immediately. Bessie swam over and supported Grover in the water.

"Be careful," said Percy.

"We will," Grover turned to Bessie. "Okay, um…Bessie? We're going to Long Island Sound."

"Moo?"

"Yes. Long Island. Well, it's an island, and…it's long, Oh let's just start."

"Moo!"

Bessie launched forward, Grover holding onto his neck. He started to submerge when Grover yelled, "oh yeah, I can't breath underwater! Just thought I'd mention-" _Glub!_

Under they went. Danielle hoped that Poseidon remembered that Grover needed to breath underwater.

"Well, that is one problem addressed," said Zoe. "But how are we supposed to get to my sister's garden before sunset?"

Percy sighed, "Thalia's right, we need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, ahem, borrow one."

He looked uncomfortable with the idea, as was everyone else. The fate of western civilization was more important but stealing a car to do it just sounded wrong. Besides, doing so would warrant attention on them, the last thing they needed.

"Wait," Thalia said. She started rummaging in her backpack for something. "There is someone here that could help us. I've got the address here somewhere."

"Who?" asked Percy.

Thalia pulled out a battered and crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase, Annabeth's dad."

No had a better idea and since they were close to the address on the paper anyway, they decided to at least try. Danielle had to wonder what sort of guy Athena would like. Some sort of genius that could challenge her intellectually in certain areas, no doubt. Of course, this was also the same guy that made a small seven-year-old want to run away when she could easily have been eaten by a monster. Not exactly father of the year.

After only a twenty-minute walk, they found the right address. It was a simple two-story home with a small front yard. What Danielle was not expecting was Professor Chase to be wearing an aviator's cap and goggles. He looked so weird, with his eyes bugging through his glasses that they all took a step back.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice. "Are you delivering my airplanes?"

That would explain the aviator garb. They all looked at each other warily.

"Um, no sir," said Zoe.

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

Danielle figured he might be some sort of World War One fanatic, focusing on the air force of that time period. She also figured that Athena was looking for the mad scientist look when she met him.

"Right," said Percy. "We're friends with Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" He suddenly straightened, as if he was given an electric shock. "What happened? Is she okay?"

None of them answered but the looks on their faces probably gave away enough. Professor Chase sighed and took off his aviator's hat, revealing his sandy blond hair. He looked to be in his late thirties, early forties, and hadn't shaved for a few days. His shirt was also buttoned wrong, like he was so busy with research that he neglected his personal appearance.

"You'd better come in."

The moment Danielle entered the house she felt a pang of jealously for Annabeth. The modest home was the complete opposite of Potter Manor with its fancy one of a kind furniture and almost sterile like environment. The Chase home looked comfortable, lived in, and slightly chaotic. There were LEGO robots on the stairs and a couple of cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled of chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home- the kind Danielle had never had.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "Don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," said the little boy. "He's Matthew!"

"Matthew," called Dr. Chase. "Don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to them; "we'll go upstairs into my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. She must have been Annabeth's stepmother as she walked into the living room, wiping her hands on a towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun.

"Who are our guests?" she asked.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is…"

He stared at them blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

They introduced themselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice. Danielle thought that she and Mrs. Weasley would have gotten along pretty well if the latter was more concerned about everyone's welfare instead of just people she approved of. Mrs. Chase asked them if they were hungry and promised to bring up sandwiches, cookies and sodas.

"Dear," said Dr. Chase. "They came about Annabeth."

From what little Danielle was able to get from Percy; she figured that Mrs. Chase would have started shrieking like a banshee at the mention of her stepdaughter. Instead, she pursed her lips and looked concerned. "Alright, you go up to the study and I'll bring you some food." She smiled at Percy. "Nice to meet you Percy. I've heard a lot about you."

After Percy was done blushing, Dr. Chase led them up the stairs. Once the door to the study opened, everyone's eyes widened, "whoa."

The room was wall-to-wall books but what caught everyone's attention were the war toys. There was a huge table with little German soldiers and miniature tanks along a blue painted river, with hills and fake trees and stuff. Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight.

Dr. Chase smiled a little crazily. "Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I'm writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much bigger role than they are given credit for."

He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making little engine noises as he knocked down the little German soldiers.

It was at that point that Danielle figured that he was a mad genius. Brilliant, but almost completely out of his mind. She could see what Athena had seen in him.

Zoe came over and studied the battlefield. "The German lines were farther down the river."

Dr. Chase stared at her, "how do you know that?"

"I was there," she said matter-of-factly. "Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other. And how foolish, too. The battle was a complete waste."

Danielle nodded, "that sounds like lady Artemis."

Dr. Chase opened his mouth in shock. "You-"

"She's a Hunter, sir," said Thalia. "But that's not why we're here. We need-"

"You saw the Sopwith Camels?" asked Dr. Chase eagerly, staring at Zoe as if she was a great treasure. "How many were there? What formations did they fly?"

"Sir," said Thalia again. "Annabeth is in danger."

That got his attention. Dr. Chase reluctantly put the biplane down.

"Of course," he said. "Tell me everything."

It wasn't easy, but they tried. Meanwhile, the afternoon sun was starting to fade. They were running out of time.

When they'd finished, Dr. Chase collapsed into his leather recliner. He laced his hands. "My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry."

"Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said. "And we need it immediately."

"I'll drive you. Hmm, it would be faster to fly over in my Camel, but it only seats two."

"Whoa, you have an actual biplane?" asked Percy in shock.

"Down at Crissy field," said Dr. Chase proudly. "That's the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the greatest World War I artifacts in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel-"

"Sir," said Thalia. "Just a car would be great. And it might be better to go without you. It's too dangerous."

Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I…I can't just-"

"Snacks," said Mrs. Chase as she pushed a tray through the door full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Cokes, and cookies fresh from the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Danielle suddenly realized how hungry she was after draining her magical core and almost dove for the sandwiches while Percy and Thalia inhaled the cookies.

Zoe spoke to Dr. Chase, "I can drive sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."

Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"

"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them…but it's apparently no place for mortals."

Danielle frowned with slight guilt as she finished her second sandwich. Dr. Chase seemed to really feel useless about the whole situation and wanted to help anyway he could.

Mrs. Chase nodded, "then they'd better get going."

"Right!" Dr. Chase sprang to his feet and started digging in his pockets. "My keys…"

His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped in your aviator's hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right!" Dr. Chase said.

Zoe grabbed a sandwich. "Thank you both, we should go. _Now!"_

They hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind them.

"Percy," Mrs. Chase called as they were almost out the door. "Tell Annabeth…Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that."

Danielle's eyes started to sting, how often had she wished for her parents to tell her something like that? She eyed the LEGO robots and the smell of freshly baked cookies in the air. _'Not a bad place to live,'_ she thought before heading out the door to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down fast now, they probably only had about an hour to get into the garden now.

Zoe got into the driver's seat while Danielle managed to get shotgun. Percy and Thalia got the backseat.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded.

Zoe glared at her, "I cannot control traffic."

"You both sound like my mother," said Percy.

"Shut up!" they both yelled in unison.

Danielle sighed. She remembered the car trip they had had at the start of this quest, it seemed like ages ago. "Thalia, we'll get there when we get there, calm down." She knew that saying that to an ADHD demigod was pointless but she had to try.

Thalia growled at her for a moment before settling for looking out the window with a huff.

Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking in the horizon when they finally got to Maine Country and exited the highway.

The roads were narrow, winding through forests and woodland, up steep hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn't slow down at all.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" asked Percy out of nowhere.

"Eucalyptus," Zoe pointed to the large trees all around them.

"The stuff koala bears eat?"

"And monsters," she answered. "They love chewing on the leaves, especially dragons."

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?"

"Believe me," said Zoe. "If you had dragon breath, you would too."

Danielle couldn't keep quiet anymore, "Zoe, are you sure you want to go?"

Zoe frowned at the road, "I will be fine. Stop questioning me."

Danielle slumped a little in her seat, "fine. Just remember that you're my sister and nothing will change that."

Zoe nodded, looking like she was determined not to cry and focused on driving.

Danielle was lost in thought for a moment. Zoe knew something about this quest that the others didn't know. Something that would require trying to train Bianca to take over as the second in command in the Hunt. '_What is she thinking? It's not like she's going to die.'_

Her mind screeched to a halt at that thought. She couldn't lose Zoe; she was the big sister she had never had. But the look on her face when she had said that Bianca could replace her as the lieutenant, that was the look of someone who had accepted her fate and tried to do the best she could.

In front of them was Mount Tamapalis, In terms of mountains; it wasn't that large, there were plenty of larger mountains. But it seemed that there was a small sense of danger that was growing larger the closer they came to it.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" asked Percy.

"Yes," said Zoe tightly.

"Why do they call it that?"

Zoe was silent for about a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos' right-hand man, the general of his armed forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"The General," muttered Percy. Clouds were swirling around the peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top. "What's going on up there? A storm?"

Zoe didn't answer but Danielle could. "I don't like it but I can literally feel the dark magic gathering up there. Like it's gathering for something big."

"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here."

"The magical kind or the normal kind?" asked Percy.

"Both."

The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain now, and they kept driving right toward them. They were out of the forest now, into wide-open spaces of cliffs, fog, grass and rocks.

As they turned around a scenic curve around a cliff with a perfect ocean view below, Percy shouted, "Look!"

His shout startled everyone but the car went around a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"A big white ship," said Percy. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."

Danielle got a bad feeling; she had heard that Kronos had gotten a ship like that.

Thalia's eyes widened, "Luke's ship?"

They were silent for a moment. If it was that demon cruise ship, they would have a lot of fighting to do.

"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army."

Before anyone could say anything, the hairs on the back of their necks stood up. Thalia shouted, "stop the car. NOW!"

Zoe sensed that something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"OUT!" Thalia opened her door and pushed Percy hard. Danielle and Zoe both jumped out as well and all four of them rolled onto the pavement. The next second: BOOOM!

Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. Thalia pulled out her shield and protected herself and Percy from raining shrapnel while Danielle had recovered enough to put up a barrier around herself and Zoe. Luckily for her, the rain of falling metal was over quickly and she dropped her shield before she ran out of energy again. When the smoke cleared, they saw that part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The still smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

Zoe picked herself up and gave Danielle a hand, who was panting from using magic again so soon after her core was drained. Giving Zoe a look of gratitude, they made it to the others.

Thalia was looking stunned and angry. _"One shall perish by a parent's hand,"_ she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? _Me?"_

"Calm down Thalia," said Danielle, still looking a little green. "I'm sure that others can use lightning."

Percy nodded, "yeah. That couldn't have been Zeus's lightning bolt. No way."

"Whose then?" Thalia demanded.

"I don't know," said Percy. "Zoe said Kronos's name, maybe he-"

Thalia shook her head angrily. "No. That wasn't it."

"We will figure it out later," said Zoe, clearly trying to calm Thalia down. "We need to move."

"You mean we're here?" asked Percy.

"Very close," she said. "Follow me."

Sheets of fog were drifting over the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. The other three looked at each other.

"Concentrate on Zoe," Danielle advised. "Just walk straight through the fog and focus on following her. Keep that in mind."

Before they could move, Percy held Thalia back. "Wait, Thalia. About what happened back on the pier…I mean, with the manticore and the sacrifice-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Thalia looked uncomfortable and still angry about the lightning bolt.

"You wouldn't actually have…you know?"

She hesitated. "I was just shocked. That's all."

"Zeus didn't send that lightning bolt at the car. It was Kronos. He's trying to manipulate you, make you angry at your dad."

She took a deep breath. "Percy, I know you're trying to make me feel better. Thanks. But come on. We need to go."

Danielle, feeling like an outsider after their bonding moment, stepped into the fog, into the Mist first.

When the fog cleared, she was still on the side of a mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a blood red slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of them. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the Garden of twilight.

If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place Danielle had ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping-stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples. She had no idea why but Danielle knew that one bite of one those apples would have been the most delicious thing she might ever taste.

"The apples of immortality," said Thalia. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

Danielle had to wonder about that. She had a hard time imagining Hera, queen of the gods, coming here to relax when it was so close to Mount Orthys. The dragon itself was also a deterrent.

The dragon Ladon was probably the scariest dragon she had ever seen, and she had seen Norbert. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had one hundred heads, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass; all of the eyes were closed.

Then the shadows in front of them began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. Percy reached for Riptide but Zoe stopped him. Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek Chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. It was strange, but Danielle had gotten so used to Zoe that she never realized how good she looked until she saw her siblings, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoe- gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.

"Sisters," Zoe said.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see two half-bloods and two Hunters. All of whom shall soon die."

"You've got it wrong," said Percy as he stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die."

The girls studied him. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Who said I was a threat?"

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee, they are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."

"There are no friends here daughter of Zeus," the girl said, "only enemies. Go back."

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

"And Artemis," Danielle added. "We need to get to the summit."

"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends or disgraced sister?"

Danielle had to admit that that had hurt slightly. She could feel Percy and Thalia looking at her questioningly but they shook it off as unimportant for the moment. Then Zoe did the last thing she expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain shimmering bronze Knuts. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoe, "are you mad?"

"You never had any courage sister," Zoe said. "That is thy problem."

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.

"Zoe, don't," Danielle, said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the Mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."

_"Should_," said Percy. "Not exactly reassuring."

"It is the only way," she said. "Even the four of us together cannot fight him."

Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down Danielle's back, and that was before his breath hit her. The smell was like acid. It made her eyes burn, her skin crawl, and her hair stand on end. She remembered the Basilisk back in her second year at Hogwarts and the stench of the Chamber of Secrets. But this stench was a hundred times stronger, all mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus. She would never look at another koala bear the same way again.

She wanted to draw her bow or wand. But her magic, while still slowly coming back, was still on empty for now. Hercules, the jerk, had tried and failed with a frontal assault. She decided to trust Zoe's judgment.

She and Thalia went left, Percy went right. Zoe walked straight toward the monster.

"It's me, my little dragon," Zoe said. "Zoe has come back."

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

The dragon's eyes glinted.

The other three were about halfway across the garden. Ahead, was a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.

They'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. Danielle felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe Ladon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoe.

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in their direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.

Percy drew Riptide and Danielle her bow.

"NO!" Zoe panted. "RUN!"

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoe cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoe sprinted past them up the mountain, making them follow.

Ladon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but he was well trained to guard the tree. He wasn't going to be lured off, even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.

As they ran up the mountain, the Hesperides resumed their song behind them. The music didn't sound so beautiful anymore- more like the sound track for a funeral.

At the top of the mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" asked Percy.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoe said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was-" She winced and held her side.

"Zoe!" Danielle pulled out her wand. "You're hurt, let me see-"

"No! It is nothing. I was saying…in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But…how is it here?" asked Percy.

Thalia looked around cautiously as they picked there way though the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on _this_ mountain, is not good."

"This is Atlas's mountain," said Danielle, realizing this for the first time. "Of course, the Hesperides, they're all children of Atlas."

Zoe nodded, "yes, where Atlas holds-" she froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

They had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of them, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountain's top, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis; her legs were bound to the rock with Celestrial bronze chains. Artemis was holding the sky, the roof of the world.

"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, Danielle not far behind.

Artemis shook her head furiously, "stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. Danielle's heart almost broke at the sight. She had never seen her lady in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for her.

Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests and tugged at the chains.

A booming voice spoke behind them: "Ah, how touching."

They turned, Danielle seeing this General for the first time. He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. His eyes were like stone. She felt like she was looking at a living statue. It was amazing that he could move at all.

At the General's side was a demigod who looked like he had seen better days. His skin was pale and his blond hair looked almost gray but his eyes showed how angry he was. He also had a scar that ran down the side of his face that made him look crueler.

Beside them both were about half a dozen dracaenae, snake women, bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. A blonde girl stood by the demigod's side but she had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and a sword pointed at her throat.

Danielle recognized that blonde girl, Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena that Percy, Thalia, and Grover loved. That meant that the guy holding her at sword point must be Luke.

"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go."

Luke's smile was weak and pale, like he didn't want to do this but was determined to make it happen. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."

Thalia spat at him.

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

"Wait a second, " Percy said. "You're Atlas?"

The General glanced at him. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoe," said Percy as he and Danielle moved in between Atlas and Zoe. "We won't let you."

The General sneered. "Neither of you have the right to interfere, little heroes. This is a family matter."

Percy frowned. "A family matter?"

"Percy," said Danielle. "I just said that the Hesperides were daughters of Atlas."

"Yes," said Zoe bleakly. "Atlas is my father."

Danielle had to admit, there were worse fathers than her own. James hadn't liked her, he even threw her out of the house, but he had never tried to kill her.

"Let Artemis go," Zoe demanded.

Atlas walked closer to the goddess of the hunt. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."

Zoe opened her mouth to speak but Artemis beat her to it. "No! Do not offer, Zoe! I forbid you."

Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers.

"Hoo-hoo," Atlas chuckled. "You see daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the center of the palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."

Percy looked at Annabeth. She was trying desperately to tell them something. She motioned her head toward Luke. Now that they could see her clearly, they noticed that something had changed. Her blonde hair was now streaked with gray, something that had not been there when the manticore had taken her.

"From holding up the sky," muttered Thalia to them. "The weight should have killed her."

"I don't understand," said Percy. "Why can't Artemis just let go of the sky?"

Atlas laughed. "How little you understand, young one. This is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaia first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans. The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape." Atlas smiled. "Unless someone else takes it from you."

He approached them, studying Percy, Thalia and Danielle. "So, these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge. One is even a pure mortal, not even a demigod."

"Fight us," Percy said. "And let's see."

"Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity to even fight one of Hecate's precious magicals. I will have Luke crush you instead."

"So you're another coward," Percy said.

Atlas's eyes glowed with hatred. With difficulty, he turned his attention to Danielle. "Danielle No-name, formerly Potter. Hecate joined Kronos. Join us, you are useful in a fight, and we could increase your powers beyond your wildest dreams. You could have your revenge on your parents, the ones who turned their backs on you."

Danielle glared at him.

Atlas shrugged and turned to Thalia.

"As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you."

"I wasn't wrong," Luke managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. If he wasn't trying to bring about the end of the world, Danielle might feel sorry about him. "Thalia, you can still join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

He waved his hand, and next to them a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus.

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."

"Luke…" Thalia's voice was full of pain. "What happened to you?"

"Don't you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!"

Thalia shook her head. "Free Annabeth. Let her go."

"If you join me." Luke promised, "It can be like old times. The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, if you don't agree…"

His voice faltered. "It's my last chance. He will use the other way if you don't agree. Please."

Danielle didn't know what he meant but the fear in his voice sounded real enough. Luke really was in danger. His life depended on Thalia joining his cause. The question was if Thalia would believe it too.

"Do not, Thalia," Zoe warned. "We must fight them."

Luke waved his hand again and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at Camp Half-blood. A sacrificial flame.

Danielle put a hand on Thalia's shoulder. Percy was telling her no.

Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, Danielle saw images in the Mist all around them: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around them, made of shadows and fear.

"We shall rise Mount Othrys right here," Luke promised in a voice so strained it was hardly his. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak."

He pointed toward the ocean and Danielle's heart fell. Marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where Luke's demon cruise ship was docked, was a great army. Dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hellhounds, harpies, and a whole lot of other things that Danielle didn't know the names for. The whole ship must have been emptied and they were marching right for them. They would be here in minutes.

"This is only a taste of what is to come," Luke said. "Soon we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."

For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. She gazed at Luke, her eyes filled with pain, as if the only thing she wanted in the world was to believe him. Then she leveled her spear. "You aren't Luke. I don't know you anymore."

"Yes, you do, Thalia," he pleaded. "Please. Don't make me…don't make _him_ destroy you."

There was no time. If that army got to the top of the hill, they would be overwhelmed. Danielle saw Annabeth nod to Percy, like she knew it too and was prepared for it.

Danielle looked at Percy, Thalia, and Zoe. Figuring that if she was going to fight, it might as well be with people she had come to care about. Friends that she had found in a crazy world of gods and monsters, far away from her magical world she had been born in.

"Now," said Percy.

Together, they charged.

Thalia went straight for Luke. The power of her shield was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin when a rain of arrows from Danielle's bow turned them into dust, leaving Luke alone. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with a sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. When his sword, a weird combination of celestrial bronze and mortal steel, met Thalia's shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air around them with yellow tendrils of power.

While Thalia was battling Luke spear and shield on sword, Danielle grabbed Annabeth and pulled her to a safe spot away from the fighting.

"Let me go!"

Danielle glared at her, "and how do you plan on fighting without a weapon?" she hissed. When Annabeth was quiet, she pulled out her hunting knives and cut Annabeth's bonds free. Danielle then reached into her bag and pulled out some Ambrosia she always kept on her. She couldn't eat it herself, even with the blessing of Artemis, she wasn't a demigod, and gave it to the daughter of Athena.

Annabeth took it begrudgingly and some of her color came back. Danielle stood up, "wait here."

Before the girl could do more than stare at her, Danielle summoned her bow again and started firing at Atlas along with Zoe while Percy was stupid enough to attack him head on.

Percy swung his sword at Atlas, his silk suit now full Greek battle armor, and Atlas knocked Percy aside with the shaft of his javelin. Percy went flying and slammed into a black wall. It wasn't the Mist anymore. The palace was rising, brick by brick, it was becoming real.

"Fool!" Atlas screemed gleefully, as he swatted aside Zoe and Danielle's arrows. "Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me?"

Pushing aside the question of when Percy had challenged Ares of all people, Danielle kept firing arrows with Zoe, trying to find a chink in his armor. Percy shook off the daze he got from slamming into a brick wall and charged again, trying to get close to the pool of water.

The javelin's point came right at Percy and he blocked with Riptide. Percy's sword was positioned so that it could cut the javelin in half. Atlas was too strong though; it was impossible for Percy to do so.

The javelin caught Percy in the chest and he went flying like a rag doll again. He slammed into the ground, rolling in front of Artemis's feet.

Danielle didn't know what to do. Arrows didn't even seem to have an effect on Atlas. Close range with hunting knives wouldn't do anything with that armor he had on. As for magic, she had enough for one more minor spell at the moment. Not enough to do any kind of difference against a Titan.

Atlas wasn't even trying to get away from Zoe or Danielle, calmly walking toward Percy as if he had all the time in the world. Percy's sword was gone. It had skittered over the side of the cliff. It would return in pen form in a few seconds, but Percy didn't have that long. Luke and Thalia were fighting like demons, lightning crackled around them. Annabeth trying to figure out a plan but without even her invisibility hat, she was having trouble doing anything herself.

"Die little hero," Atlas said.

He raised his javelin.

"NO!" Zoe and Danielle managed to shoot arrows into the armpit chinks in Atlas's armor. Silver arrows sprouting from the volley the two girls had shot.

"ARGH" He bellowed and turned to glare at Zoe.

Zoe and Danielle quickly dodged the javelin strikes that Atlas made in their direction. He was like fighting a mountain, Danielle decided. He was big, powerful, and seemed to have sacrificed speed for raw power. True, they had speed on their side, but with the unflinching stamina the Titan had, it wouldn't matter since he would win eventually.

What was Danielle supposed to do? She wanted to help and protect everyone but found that she couldn't. Every weapon she had was either useless or near so against Atlas. She could see Percy and Artemis talking in the distance but she was too busy simply dodging attacks to do anything about it. Zoe was doing the same as she was but she was getting slower, probably from her fight against Ladon before. All the time, the monster army was getting closer.

She got a small break when Atlas decided to focus on Zoe but that wasn't much better. Danielle started getting angry, like she always did when someone was attacking her friends but this was much worse. Atlas was attacking her sister. The Hunt had been her home, her family; Artemis was her mother figure while Zoe was like an older sister she had learned to rely on.

Her fists clenched, her breathing was angry and her eyes blazed. No one attacked her family and got away with it!

"What are you doing?" shouted Atlas. "Stop that!"

"Danielle?" asked Zoe, looking exhausted but well enough to keep going.

Danielle was glowing bright silver, like her blessing from Artemis was giving her a power boost. Her normal hazel eyes were blazing with a silver light and she felt stronger, both magically and physically. She felt great.

Bringing out her hunting knives, one in each hand, she smirked as she leaped forward with a speed that could compete with Artemis herself. Slashing her knives across his armor, she left deep cuts in the armor before spinning around him with amazing speed and jabbing him in the small of the back, making him stumble.

"What is this?" demanded Atlas.

"It is my full blessing," said Artemis, who was standing in her own battle position, knives out. "Only those who have fully accepted themselves, the Hunt, and their role in their new family can activate it under extreme stress. Even Zoe has never managed it."

That was the only explanation that Artemis gave as she leapt into battle herself. Together, the three Hunters pushed Atlas back. Artemis was showing why she was the best knife fighter on Olympus as she gave furious strikes. She even turned into various animals. One moment she was a bear, the next an eagle, a tiger, a dear, and a falcon. Zoe rained arrows down on Atlas while Danielle was slashing as much as she could with her new found speed.

"Enough!" Atlas yelled and finally got Danielle, making her go flying across the mountaintop, still glowing silver. Atlas then pressed Artemis harder than ever, even her speed could not stand up to his unyielding power. His javelin slammed into the earth where Artemis had been a split second before, and a fissure opened up in the rocks. He leaped over it and kept pursuing her. She was leading him back to where Percy had taken the sky from her.

"You fight well for a girl," Atlas laughed. "But you are no match for me."

He feinted with the tip of his javelin and Artemis dodged. Atlas's javelin swept around and knocked Artemis's legs off the ground. She fell, and Atlas brought up his Javelin for the kill.

"NO!" Zoe screamed. She leapt in between her father and Artemis and shot an arrow straight into the Titan's forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn horn. Atlas bellowed in rage. He swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks.

"ZOE!" Danielle was back and looked furious. Her silver glow shining even brighter in the darkness and in her anger. She brought out her wand and growled, "Lux Gladius." Even Atlas's eyes widened when a meter long bluish white blade made completely of light came out of the wand tip. Holding her new sword, Danielle rushed forward with the speed of the Hunt and swiped at Atlas.

Atlas brought out his javelin to block the strike but the weapon could barely hold against the burning light of Danielle's sword. Feeling full of magic, Danielle increased her speed with magic in addition to her blessing and started raining blows on Atlas, the Titan only barely dodging or blocking.

"What is this?" the Titan yelled as he found himself being pushed back. "You are a mere mortal!

"No," said Danielle as she swiped with her sword and burned his hand. "I AM A MAGICAL HUNTER!"

One well timed strike cut his burned javelin in half and made him stumble backward. On him in a flash, she burned him across the face with her blade as he went flying toward a now standing Artemis. Artemis, seeing what was happening, spun around Atlas and threw him toward Percy, who was now about to faint from exhaustion from holding up the sky.

Sending a message to Percy telepathically, Percy loosened his grip on the sky so Atlas slammed into him, knocking him out of the way as the sky feel onto Atlas's back. Atlas shifted so he was on his knees, struggling to get out from under the crushing weight of the sky. But by then, it was too late.

"_Nooooo_!" He bellowed so loudly that it shook the mountain. "_Not again_!"

Atlas was trapped under his old burden.

Thalia meanwhile, had backed Luke up to the edge of a cliff, but they still fought on, next to the golden coffin. Thalia had tears in her eyes. Luke had a bloody gash across his chest and his pale face glistened with sweat.

He lunged at Thalia and she slammed him with her shield. Luke's sword spun out of his hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to his throat.

For a moment, there was silence.

"Well?" Luke asked. He tried to hide it, but there was fear in his voice.

Thalia trembled in fury.

Behind her, Annabeth came scrambling, coming out from behind her hiding place. Her face was bruised and streaked with dirt. "Don't kill him!"

"He's a traitor," Thalia said. "A traitor!"

Neither Artemis nor Danielle cared about Luke at the moment. They both rushed off to where Zoe had fallen, Danielle's silver glow fading back to a normal Hunter's.

"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He…he'll be useful."

"Is that what you want, Thalia?" Luke sneered. "To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"

Thalia hesitated, and Luke made a desperate grab for her spear.

"No!" Annabeth shouted. But it was too late. Without thinking, Thalia kicked Luke away. He lost his balance, terror on his face, and then he fell.

"Luke!" Annabeth screamed.

The demigods rushed to the cliff's edge. Below them, the army from Kronos's ship had stopped in amazement. They were staring at Luke's broken form on the rocks. It seemed to be impossible he was still alive. The fall was fifty feet at last, and he wasn't moving.

One of the giants looked up and growled, "Kill them!"

Thalia was stiff with grief, tears streaming down her cheeks. Percy pulled her back as a wave of javelins sailed over their heads. They ran for the rocks, ignoring the curses and threats of Atlas as they passed.

"Artemis!" Percy yelled.

The goddess and Danielle looked up, their faces as grief-stricken as Thalia's. Zoe lay in Artemis's arms, Danielle was holding her hand. She was breathing. Her eyes were open. But still…

"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said.

"Atlas poisoned her?" Percy asked.

"It was Ladon you twit," Danielle almost yelled at him. Her eyes were full of unshed tears but she was losing her resolve. She looked at Zoe sadly, "you idiot. I don't have any more ambrosia and with the blessing worn off, I don't have enough magic to heal a bruise. Why would you go into battle like that?"

Zoe's wound was much worse than she had let on. No one could look at it easily but Zoe had charged into battle anyway.

Zoe coughed and struggled to draw breath. "My death was prophesized. I knew it from the start." She focused on the sky instead of them. "The stars, I cannot see them."

Danielle was about ready to cry while Artemis didn't seem much better. Lady Artemis seemed to be in shock. No one moved. Grief was heavy in the air; even amongst the demigods. They might have met their doom from Kronos's army when they heard a buzzing sound.

Just as the monster army was about to reach the top of the hill, a Sopwith Camel swooped out of the sky.

"Get away from my daughter!" yelled Dr. Chase as he fired his machine guns, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the monster army into scattering.

"Dad?" yelled Annabeth in disbelief.

Danielle was positive now. Dr. Chase was the coolest dad in the world. Too bad her sister was dying so she couldn't enjoy the moment.

"Run!" Dr. Chase called down. His voice getting fainter as the biplane swooped away.

His shout shook Artemis into action. She stared at the plane that was now coming around for another strafe.

"A brave man," Artemis said in a kind of grudging approval. "Come. We must get Zoe away from here."

She raised her hunting horn to her lips and made a clear sound that echoed down the valleys of Marin. Zoe's eyes fluttered.

Danielle grabbed one of Zoe's hands again, trying and failing to keep her tears from falling. She knew it was a fatal wound. She also knew that no one could do anything about it. "Don't die on me yet Zoe."

The Sopwith Camel came around for another pass. A few giants fired their javelins, and one went between the wings of the plane, but the machine guns blazed. The bullets must have been fashioned from celestrial bronze as the first row of snake women burst into a sulfurous yellow powder.

"That's…my dad!" Annabeth yelled in amazement.

There wasn't enough time to admire his flying. The giants and snake women were getting back up, recovering from their surprise. Dr. Chase would be in trouble soon.

Just then, the moon brightened, and a silver chariot came down, from the sky, being driven by the most beautiful reindeer on the planet. It landed right next to them.

"Get in," said Artemis.

Annabeth helped Percy get Thalia on board while Danielle and Artemis got Zoe. Wrapping Zoe in a blanket as Artemis grabbed the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.

"Like Santa's sleigh," Percy muttered, still in pain from holding up the sky.

Artemis looked at him, "indeed, young half-blood. And where do you think that legend came from?"

Seeing them away, Dr. Chase flew his biplane toward them and followed the chariot like an honor guard. It had to be one of the strangest sights ever: a reindeer pulled silver chariot being escorted by a Sopwith Camel.

Behind them, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was Atlas, bellowing insults against the gods as he struggled to hold up the sky.

They landed at Crissy Field after nightfall.

As soon as he got out of the Sopwith Camel, Annabeth ran to meet him and gave him a huge hug. "Dad! You flew…you shot…oh my gods! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

Dr. Chase blushed. "Well, not bad for a middle-aged mortal, I suppose."

"But the celestrial bronze bullets! How did you _get_ those?"

"Ah, well. You did leave quite a few demigod weapons behind in your room in Virginia, the last time you…left."

Annabeth looked down, embarrassed. He tried not to say the words _ran away_.

"I decided to melt some down to make bullet casings. Just a little experiment."

He said it like it was no big deal but everyone could see what Athena, goddess of Arts and Crafts, had seen in him all those years ago. He was a mad scientist at heart.

"Dad…" Annabeth's voice faltered.

"Annabeth, Percy," Thalia interrupted. Her voice was urgent. She was pointing to Danielle and Artemis who were kneeling at Zoe's side, binding up her wounds.

They ran up to her but it was obvious that there was nothing that could be done. None of them had any Ambrosia or Nectar. No regular mortal medicine would help and Danielle's magic was gone. It was dark but Zoe was clearly shivering, her silver aura that she always had was fading.

"Can't you heal her with magic?" Percy asked Artemis. "I mean…you're a goddess."

Artemis looked troubled. "Life is fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do. But I can try."

She tried to set her hand on Zoe's side, but Zoe grabbed her wrist. She looked into the goddess's eyes and some sort of understanding passed between them.

"Have I…served thee well?" Zoe whispered.

"With great honor," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."

Zoe's face relaxed. "Rest. At last."

"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one."

It wasn't just the poison killing her. It was her father's final blow that did it. She went on this quest knowing that she would probably die, and she went anyway. Ever since she had heard the Oracle: One shall perish by a parent's hand. She had chosen to save them all, and her father broke her inside.

"Zoe," Danielle whispered, still holding her hand. "You were my first friend, the closest thing I've known as a family. Without you, I wouldn't have even joined the Hunt and gained my new family. You are best older sister in the world." She wasn't even trying to hold her tears as they fell down her face. She would have kept talking but she was too choked up on emotions to continue.

Zoe gripped her hand, "and you were best younger sister. I am sorry for not telling you everything about this quest but I did not want to worry you. You are a true hunter Danielle."

Danielle nodded, unable to speak but gripped her hand tighter.

Zoe turned to Thalia and took her hand with her free one. "I am sorry we argued. We could have been sisters."

"It's my fault," Thalia said, blinking hard. "You were right about Luke, about men, heroes-everything."

"Perhaps not all men," Zoe smiled at Percy weakly. "Do you still have the sword, Percy?"

Percy couldn't speak, but he brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. The blade that she had given to Hercules all those years ago and Percy had wound up with. She grasped it contentedly, "you spoke the truth, Perseus Jackson. You are nothing like...like Hercules. I am honored you carry this sword."

A sudden shudder ran through her body.

"Zoe-" said Percy.

"Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, milady."

Artemis nodded, a tear trickling down her cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

"Stars," she whispered again. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. Then she moved no more. Her silver aura gone.

Thalia lowered her head. Annabeth choked back a sob and her father put a hand on her shoulder. Danielle's tears wouldn't stop. Percy looked lost and depressed. Artemis cupped her hand over Zoe's mouth and said some words in Ancient Greek. A silvery whisp of smoke exhaled from Zoe's lips and was caught in the hand on the goddess. Zoe's body shimmered and vanished, leaving Danielle holding air.

Artemis stood, and giving a kind of blessing, breathed into her cupped hand and released the silver dust into the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Annabeth gasped. Looking up, Danielle saw that the stars were brighter than before. They made a new pattern-a gleaming constellation that looked like a girl's figure- a girl with a bow, running across the sky.

"Let the world honor you, my Huntress," said Artemis, who was now holding Danielle's hand. "Live forever in the stars."

It wasn't easy saying goodbye to everyone. The thunder and lightning from Mount Tamapais were boiling at this point in the north. Artemis's silver figure started flickering, like she might lose control of herself and vaporize anyone looking at her if she appeared in her fully divine form.

"I must go to Olympus immediately," Artemis said. "I will not be able to take all of you, but I will send help."

The goddess put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what is right."

She then looked quizzically at Thalia, as if not sure what to make of this younger daughter of Zeus. Thalia seemed reluctant to look up, but something made her and she held the goddess's eyes. Danielle didn't know what passed between the two of them but Artemis's gaze softened with sympathy. Then she turned to Percy.

"You did well," she said. "For a man."

Danielle didn't smile but she did feel slightly amused when Percy looked indignant for a moment. Then he realized what she had said and who had said it and he calmed down, realizing it as the highest praise she would give him, ever.

Artemis then faced her, "Danielle, as a hunter, I can take you. Shall we go?"

Danielle nodded and smiled at all of them before going to the chariot, which started to glow. With one last smile and wave, Artemis took the reins, and in a flash of silver, they were gone, now flying high over the United States toward Manhattan.

Danielle was sorry to say, she had spaced out for most of the trip to Olympus. It was her first visit to the home of the gods but after losing Zoe, her first friend and sister in all but blood, she didn't feel like she wanted to focus on anything.

Numb shock, that was the only thing she was feeling at the moment. She had watched Zoe die right in front of her, poisoned and hit hard enough by Atlas that she had broken several bones. If even lady Artemis couldn't heal her, than she had no chance. Even Apollo couldn't have done anything and that made it even worse.

For the entire ride in lady Artemis's chariot, she just looked blankly over the side. Looking but not seeing. What was she supposed to tell the hunt? Phoebe would be murderous. She was always the closest to Zoe and she herself felt like she had let the whole hunt down, not just Phoebe.

When she felt a little shake and she focused on her surroundings for the first time, she noticed that she was on the outskirts of a huge city. Even though it was supposed to be early morning, the sun was shining brightly like it was the middle of the afternoon.

The concept of winter didn't seem to exist here. Flowers and trees were everywhere while a warm summer breeze wafted through the streets. Nymphs, satyrs, Demigods and minor gods and goddess were walking around, shop keepers were selling their wares like Ambrosia on a stick and the latest replica of famous weapons shown on Hephaestus T.V. Fires of multiple different colors were blazing in braziers along the walkway. Music was coming from the many windows and onto the street.

On the top of it all, on the top of the mountain, was the throne room of the Olympian council.

"Are you alright?"

Danielle looked at lady Artemis, for the first time since they had left California she had taken in the goddess' looks. For the most part, the goddess looked the same as she had always known her, but it was clear she was taking the loss of her best friend hard, just like her.

Danielle shook herself slightly, "I'll be alright, milady. Not right now, but eventually."

Lady Artemis nodded, like she was going through the same thing, and made her way to the doors to the throne room, Danielle following behind.

"Is it okay if I go in? I'm not a demigod."

Artemis smiled at her, "as long as you are with me, it will be fine. Just bow to lord Zeus and be truthful about what has happened if they question you and no one will try anything,"

Danielle nodded, still nervous of meeting the Olympian council. How many witches could say that they had seen the twelve Olympians?

When lady Artemis opened the doors and led her inside, she had to gasp at the wondrous room. She had seen the Great Hall at Hogwarts and she had to say, this blew it out of the water entirely.

The room was huge and domed, the night sky was clearly visible and she felt a pang of sadness when she saw the constellation, the huntress, rising across the ceiling. Twelve thrones were arranged in a U shape, all but one being occupied, each had a fifteen-foot tall god or goddess sitting on them. When the doors opened, eleven Olympians all looked at them, making Danielle want to run at the feeling of power looking at her.

Lady Artemis walked into the room, growing to her full godly height and sat down on her throne made of solid silver with depictions of the hunt carved into the metal.

Danielle made her way into the room slowly, seeing that Grover was there and was about half way through the report of what had happened. He stopped when the doors had opened and waited for Danielle to come in.

Nervous, she did as lady Artemis had told her and walked to the center of the throne room, bowing to lord Zeus.

"Rise Hunter," said the lord of the sky. "Take your seat."

Rising, Danielle looked at lady Artemis's throne to see a collapsible chair had been set up for her. Knowing better to retort, she simply made her way to the chair, knowing that the twelve Olympians were watching her. She wished she could just disappear; the feeling of all these gods watching her was scary.

When she sat down, Grover started his report again, telling them how they had dealt with Talos.

Taking in a deep breath, she looked around the throne room. The first thing she saw was the Ophiotarus, the cow fish hybrid who was swimming in a large ball of water near Grover and next to the hearth. Bessie seemed to be pretty happy, moving in the water provided for him.

Because of that, she looked at Poseidon, Percy's dad, who was just sitting calmly in his throne, only looking interested when Grover mentioned his son's name. He was wearing Bermuda shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and had his trident in the slot of the deep-sea fisherman's chair that he used as a throne. While looking bored, she could tell that he was an older version of Percy; his appearance itself said how much he was a fun guy to be around.

She couldn't see lady Artemis from where she was sitting but could tell that Apollo and Hermes were getting into the story, despite the ear buds coming from Apollo's ears and Hermes texting on his phone.

Lord Zeus and Lady Hera were at the head of the throne room. Zeus looked deep in concentration, though he did smile at the mentions of Thalia contributing to the quest. Hera looked disgruntled, though she hid it well. It was no secret she didn't really like demigods but even she knew the importance of rescuing lady Artemis. She noticed how often she glared at Zeus at the mentions of his daughter.

Hephaestus, Dionysus and Demeter looked bored. She couldn't blame them; the quest really didn't have anything to do with them. The god of blacksmiths did flinch a little when he found out how destroyed his Talos statue got though.

Aphrodite was glaring at her, but that didn't surprise her. She had to smile though when she realized that, like all hunters, she could see through the glamour's that the goddess of love put up. When anyone looked at Aphrodite, they saw the ones they loved the most. When a Hunter or lady Artemis saw her, they saw how she really looked like. To be honest, she was completely thrown off of how bad she looked. She looked like a skinny little runway model that was wearing way too much make up and needed a cheeseburger, fast.

Ares looked bored as well, only looking interested when a fight was going on. It might have been the grief of losing Zoe but she didn't feel any anger or resentment in his presence. Or maybe he was controlling his aura better during the meeting.

Lady Athena was looking at her with a calculating expression. She looked like an older version of Annabeth, with the blonde hair and gray eyes that looked intimidating, like she was figuring out the best way to take out an opponent.

Hades was there as it was the winter solstice, sitting on a guest throne made of black obsidian. She wasn't sure but he seemed to go through a myriad of emotions. Everything from shock and anger when Grover had told them about Bianca's death for some reason, to glancing at her with a curious look; nothing bad, just curious and she had no idea what that was about.

Standing off to the side, as if not wanting to be seen, was lady Hestia. She looked around eight years old and was wearing a simple plain brown dress. Unable to tend the hearth since Grover and Bessie were standing in her way, she was simply watching everyone like she was. When their eyes met, she smiled at her and gave her a reassuring nod. Something that she returned, glad to have at least two goddesses on her side.

When Grover stopped speaking, he knelt in front of Zeus' throne, almost afraid of looking up. The gods seemed satisfied and started talking in their minds, as if trying to determine something.

Twisting around to look at lady Artemis, Danielle could see the anger in the goddess's eyes at some of the other gods. They seemed to be arguing about something and lady Artemis was trying to get her point across. Finally, the auburn haired goddess smiled a little and relaxed into her throne again.

Just then, the doors opened to reveal Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth. It looked like they had just gotten there, three pegasi were flying away in the distance. Percy and Thalia looked the same as they had a few hours ago but more nervous as they walked into the throne room. Annabeth looked better, like a good sleep for a few hours had given her some more energy and was more alert.

Bessie started mooing happily when he saw the son of Poseidon and started to swim a little more happily.

When Grover saw them, he quickly leapt to his seat and ran toward them, "Percy!" He then realized what he had done, turning his back on Lord Zeus, and tried to apologize.

Zeus just waved his hand dismissingly, "go on." He was staring at his daughter, Thaila.

Grover nodded and hugged Percy in a bro hug. Then did the same with Annabeth and Thalia. "Percy, Bessie and I made it! But you have to talk to them, they can't do it!"

Danielle was confused, was Grover talking about something that happened before she got there? Before she could say anything, Lady Artemis slipped out of her throne and walked over, shrinking down to her thirteen year old form, completely at ease in the room full of gods. She lifted Danielle out of her seat, and pulled her toward the others.

"Heroes." She was referring to all of them, even Danielle who she had placed among the demigods. "The Council has been informed of your deeds. They know of Mount Othrys rising in the west. They know of Atlas's attempt at freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have voted to act."

Danielle now knew what they had been discussing in their minds. She started to get nervous, especially when a few gods shuffled uneasily, as if not happy about the plan.

"At my Lord Zeus's command," Lady Artemis continued. "My brother Apollo and I shall hunt down the most powerful monsters, seeking them out before they can join the Titan's ranks. Lady Athena shall personally check on the various other Titan's prisons, making sure they haven't escaped. Lord Poseidon has been allowed to unleash his full fury on the cruise ship Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. As for you, my heroes…"

She turned to face the other gods, "these heroes have done Olympus a great service. Would any of you deny that?"

She gave each god a look in the eyes. Poseidon gave Percy a look that said _everything will be fine._ A few of the gods sent them reassuring looks. Hermes gave them a wink and Apollo gave them a thumbs-up but Ares simply glared at Percy, sharpening a knife.

"I gotta say," said Apollo, predictably breaking the silence, "these kids did alright." He cleared his throat, _'heroes win Laurels-'"_

"Um, yes, first class," said Hermes, obviously not wanting to hear another one of Apollo's poems. "All in favor of not disintegrating them?"

A few of them raised their hands tentatively, Demeter and Aphrodite.

"Hang on!" Ares growled, "what about those two?" he pointed at Percy and Thalia. "Those two are dangerous! It would be much safer, now that we have them here-"

"Ares," Poseidon interrupted, "they are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits!"

"Nor my daughter," Zeus grumbled. "She has done well."

Thalia blushed and studied the floor. It was obvious that she had never really been complimented by her father before.

Lady Athena cleared her throat and sat forward in her throne. "I am proud of my daughter as well. But there is a security risk with the other three."

"Mother!" cried Annabeth. "How can you-"

Danielle felt bad as well. How could the goddess of wisdom think of her as a security risk?

Athena silenced her daughter with a calm but stern look. "While it is unfortunate that my father and uncle has broken the oath, which only lord Hades has kept his word. A fact that I find ironic. We know from the great prophecy that children born of the big three, such as Percy and Thalia, are dangerous. As thick headed as he is, Ares does have a point."

Ares fist pumped, "yeah, you darn right…hey! Who are callin-?"

Before Ares could get off of his throne to threaten Athena, grape vines rose out of nowhere that held the war god in his place.

"Oh please, Ares," said Dionysus, who was twirling a grapevine in his hand. "Save the fighting for later."

"I'll show you, you old drunk! You seriously want to defend these brats?"

Dionysus looked at them wearily, "I personally have no love for them. Lady Athena, do you really think it would be best to destroy them?"

"I do not pass judgment," said Athena. "I merely point out the risks to Olympus. I will wait for the council to decide."

Danielle took in a deep breath and raised her hand shakily, wanting to get someone's attention.

Lady Artemis was the one to notice, "Yes Danielle?"

Danielle took in another deep breath, "I'm sorry, but how am I a security risk, as Lady Athena pointed out?"

Athena looked at her, "you are not a demigod, true, but you are a witch. Hecate's world of magic is separate from the world of gods, but Hecate herself has joined Kronos in this war. You might be loyal to Artemis, but if you had to choose, which one would you join?"

Danielle's first reaction was to feel hurt and angry, she had followed lady Artemis for years and had no interest in betraying her or the Olympians. "Lord Zeus."

Zeus looked at her, grumbling as he did so but also curious of what she had to say. "Yes, young witch and hunter?"

"I swear on the river Styx to never turn my back on Olympus or the gods. I swear to never betray those on this council, to never join the Titans, and will fight for this council along with my sister hunters no matter what to my last dying breath."

A roll of thunder sealed the oath. Athena and Zeus looked satisfied while lady Artemis looked proud of her, making her smile at her mother figure. She and lady Artemis might look the same age but it was clear that she considered the goddess more her mother than she ever had with Lily Potter.

Artemis looked at the council, "I will not have these heroes punished for doing their jobs. I will have them rewarded. If we punish those who have helped us, than we are no better than the Titans. If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it."

Apollo looked at his sister, "geez, calm down sis. You need to lighten up."

"Don't call me sis! I will see them rewarded!"

"Well," said Zeus, trying to bring the topic of conversation away from heroes. "The monster here must be destroyed, are we all in agreement on that?

There were a lot of nodding heads.

Danielle was sad that they wanted to destroy Bessie but couldn't deny that he was dangerous. Too bad, he was a cute monster and didn't mean any harm.

Percy seemed to figure it out as well, "Bessie? You want to destroy Bessie?"

Poseidon frowned, "you have named the Ophiotuarus Bessie?"

"Dad," said Percy, "he's just a sea creature, a really nice sea creature. You can't destroy him."

"Percy," said Poseidon, looking uneasy. "The monster's power is considerable. If the Titans were to steal it, or-"

"You can't," Percy looked right at Zeus. "Controlling prophecies never works. Isn't that true? Bess- the Ophiotaurus is innocent. Killing something like that is wrong. As wrong as…as Kronos eating his kids over something they _might_ do. It's wrong!"

Zeus seemed to consider this, his gaze on Thalia. "And what of the risks? Kronos knows full well that if you sacrifice the beast's entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you think we should let this possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says."

"You have to trust them," said Annabeth. "Sir, you just have to trust them."

Zeus scowled, "trust a hero?"

"Annabeth is right," said Artemis. "Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoe Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. But first, father Zeus, I must speak to you in private."

Zeus beckoned Artemis over and they started whispering. Danielle got uneasy and looked at Thalia, having a feeling of where this was going. She had no problem with her, she was a good friend, but would the rest of the Hunt accept her?

Percy and Annabeth started whispering furiously at each other, none of which Danielle could make out. Thalia just looked awkward, not sure what to do.

Finally, Artemis came back. "I shall have a new lieutenant, if she will accept."

Percy muttered something under his breath.

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, will you join the Hunt?"

Stunned silence filled the room. Everyone looked at Thalia. Annabeth squeezed her hand, as if she had been expecting this all along. Percy looked surprised but nodded in acceptance.

"I will," said Thalia firmly.

"Daughter, consider wisely," said Zeus, his eyes full of concern.

"Father," she said. "I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen and the prophecy will not be about me. I stand beside my sisters Artemis and Danielle. Kronos will never tempt me again."

Danielle felt a little better about the situation when Thalia told her she was a sister. Thalia knelt down before lady Artemis and recited the oath for all hunters. "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

After she was done and she got a new silvery glow, she did something that no one saw coming. Thalia walked over to Percy and gave him a big hug. Danielle and several of the gods had to smile at the stunned look on Percy's face.

When Thalia released him and held his shoulders, Percy looked confused, "um, aren't you not supposed to do that anymore? Hug boys, I mean?"

Danielle and lady Artemis looked at each other and smiled. As long as Thalia didn't have any romantic interests in Percy, than they didn't care.

"I'm honoring a friend," Thalia corrected him. "I must join the Hunt, Percy. I haven't known peace since…Half-Blood Hill. I finally feel like I have a home. You will a hero. You will be the one of the prophecy."

Percy rolled his eyes, "thanks."

Thalia shook her head with a smile, "I'm proud to be your friend."

She hugged Annabeth, who looked like she was about to cry, then Grover, who looked like he was about to pass out. Like someone had given him an all-you-can-eat enchilada coupon.

Thalia then stood next to lady Artemis' side, right beside Danielle, who gave her hug as well.

"Now, for the Ophiotaurus," said lady Artemis.

"This boy is still dangerous," said Dionysus. "The beast is a temptation to great power. Even if we spare the boy-"

"No," said Percy, looking at all the gods. "Please, keep the Ophiotaurus safe. My dad can hide him under the sea where no one can get to it. Or have him build an aquarium here on Olympus. But you have to protect him."

"Why should we trust you?" rumbled Hephaestus.

"I'm only fourteen, if the prophecy is about me, that's not for another two years."

"Two more years for Kronos to deceive you," said Athena. "Much can change in two years, young hero."

"Mother!" yelled Annabeth, exasperated.

"I'm only telling the truth, child. Keeping the animal safe is bad strategy, or the boy."

Poseidon stood up, "I will not have a sea creature harmed if I can help it. And I can help it." With a glow, his trident shot into his hand and glowed with power. A full twenty-foot long bronze shaft with three spear tips at the end, glowing with a blue, watery light. "I will vouch for the boy and the safety of the Ophiotaurus."

"You won't take it under the sea!" Zeus stood up. "I won't let you have such a bargaining chip in your possession."

"Brother, please," said Poseidon, exasperated.

Zeus's lightning bolt appeared in his hand, a shaft of electricity that filled the whole throne room with the smell of ozone.

"Fine," said Poseidon. "I will build an aquarium for the creature here. Hephaestus can help me. The creature will be safe. We shall protect it with all our powers. The boy will not betray us. I vouch for this on my honor.

Zeus thought about this for a minute. "All in favor?"

To the hero's surprise, a lot of hands shot up. Dionysus abstained, as did Ares and Athena, but everyone else agreed.

"We have a majority," Zeus decreed. "And so, since we will not be destroying these heroes…I imagine we should honor them. Let the triumph celebration begin!"

Danielle had to admit, she had never gone to any real parties before, but an Olympian one pretty much blew the roof off the place. The nine muses brought the music and it became clear that everyone heard only the music that one wanted to hear. No whining, no complaining about changing the music, just requests to crank it up.

Golden plates and goblets filled with whatever food and drinks that one could ask for. Dionysus was given a temporary pardon from drinking and he was gladly dancing with his wife Ariadne, both of their faces brimming with happiness.

Grover was seen with a huge goblet filled with coffee and a large plate with enchiladas and tin cans on it, muttering about Pan. Percy was talking to various gods like his father and Athena. Annabeth was talking to some minor gods and Artemis was talking to Apollo and Thalia.

Danielle sighed, not really in a party mood after everything that had happened over the last twelve hours. Yes, it was a great victory for Olympus, but at the cost of two friends/sisters.

"Trouble's, Hunter?"

Turning around, she found herself face to face with the last goddess she expected to talk to her, Hera. Her chocolate brown hair was woven in silver and gold bands and fell over one of her shoulders. She was also wearing a dress that shimmered in a multitude of colors like a peacock.

Danielle suddenly bowed, "Lady Hera."

Hera smiled, "rise, I mean you no harm, I merely wanted to talk." Danielle rose but looked curious at why the goddess of family and marriage would want to talk to her of all people. Her family had thrown her out and she had no intentions of leaving the Hunt to marry.

Hera seemed to know what she was thinking. "I know you don't believe it, Danielle, but family is important to me. The idea of you being abandoned by yours is disheartening but are you sure you have no plans to reconcile?"

Danielle's first instinct was to tell her that she hated her family and never wanted to see them again, but she couldn't. Even after everything that she had been through, she couldn't say those words. "I'm…not sure, lady Hera. My parents threw me out for such a stupid reason, but I, I cannot hate them."

Hera slowly put a hand on her shoulder, making her look at her in surprise. The queen of the gods chuckled, "I'm sure you have heard that I hate demigods, but I have always had a soft spot for non godly heroes. Jason was one of my favorites. He was a hero but didn't have an ounce of godly blood, but he got by on his inventiveness and heroics."

"Didn't he betray the woman he married and was abandoned in disgrace?"

Hera made a face, "true. He left his wife Medea to pursue another lover and was caught. To be honest, I always thought that Medea was a little insane long before she met Jason. But Odysseus was another without a godly parent and he made it home after such a long trip using only his intelligence. Don't think that Athena was his only admirer here on Olympus."

Danielle took that in, and that Hera seemed to think that she might be next in great heroes without a godly parent. She had to ask the question that had bugged her for the last hour or so.

"Lady Hera, did Hecate go over to join Kronos?"

Hera sighed, "yes. The minor gods have started to choose sides and it seems that Hecate was one of the first to join Kronos. How many others, I don't know, but without them, Olympus would be almost defenseless in this war."

Danielle shook her head, "I meant what I said, lady Hera. I trust lady Artemis with my life. I won't betray Olympus even if Hecate threatened to take away my magic."

Hera smiled at her, "thank you. Though you don't have to worry about that. Even Hecate can't take away magic from someone. She might reduce your power levels but she can't take it away completely." She sighed, "Danielle, you do have the potential to be a great hero and Hunter but if you could do that with your family intact, I would appreciate it."

Danielle didn't know what to think. Should she forgive the Potters and reconcile? Could she let go of her hate and become one big family again? Even as she thought of it, she knew it would be hard, her parents and David had never approved of her at all or anything she did. Could she do it?

Yes, she might. MIGHT be able to, but it would take a long time for her to forgive them.

"Thank you lady Hera. I might still dislike them but they are my family. I will probably yell at them as soon as I see them though."

Hera nodded, "I would expect you to. Just try not to let your anger at them get in the way forever."

Danielle nodded as Hera left her to her thoughts. She knew it would take several years before she came close to giving the Potters another chance, if they even wanted to, but she would like the closure of making up with them.

She wasn't alone in her thoughts for long as two more gods wanted to talk to her. Just as she was thinking deeply about the situation she was in, Hermes and Apollo made there way to her.

"Hello Danielle," Apollo said slowly and loudly.

Danielle rolled her eyes and turned to face them. She had never seen Apollo looking so jubilant and slightly guilty at the same time.

"May I help you lord Apollo? Lord Hermes?"

Apollo and Hermes looked at each other and nodded before Hermes pulled out what looked like a silver charm bracelet. It was a simple silver band with a torch, the symbol of Hecate, in the center.

Danielle looked at the two gods, "thanks, but I don't accessorize well."

Hermes gave her a look of mock indignation, "well, I guess I'll just give this to a child of Hecate then. Not like you could use it, after all the trouble I went to, to get it."

Apollo shook his head, "and to think, we broke into Hecate's temple for something to give you and you all you say is, 'I don't accessorize well.' Really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it Hermes?"

Hermes nodded, "it sure does Apollo, it sure does."

Danielle shook her head, "okay, I'm sorry, what does it do and why are you giving this to me?"

Apollo shrugged, "why not? Thalia has received gifts from her father, so has a lot of demigods, why shouldn't you?"

"Well, I'm not a demigod, aren't I?"

Hermes nodded, "true, but you managed just fine out there with just some magic, not bad. Anyway, Apollo convinced me to steal this for you. I am the god of thieves, after all, and Apollo was going on and on about you."

Apollo suddenly blushed, "not so loud!"

Danielle blushed as well but Hermes continued. "Anyway, Hecate joined Kronos so she pretty much abandoned her temple and I was just raiding through her stuff and I found this. She apparently made it in her spare time, you want it?"

Danielle looked at the bracelet, then back at the gods. "How I am supposed to know it won't turn me into a goldfish or something. What does it do?"

"According to Athena," said Apollo, "who analyzed it. The crystal in the bracelet should store magical energy for later use. Just picture it, you are down on magic, fighting for your life, but, you had stored some magic in this thing for later use and BOOM you can pull off one last spell to save the day."

Danielle was starting to get interested, then she remembered what these two gods do all the time. "You swear that this bracelet does what you say? That it won't make me fall in love with you or something?"

Apollo looked offended, "why, I never! Why would I do that to such a good Hunter of my sister."

"Apollo."

The god of the sun rolled his eyes, "fine. I swear on the River Styx that this trinket from Hecate is not cursed, does exactly what Hermes and I said it does, and will not make her fall in love with either of us."

Thunder boomed and since Apollo was still standing, he must have been telling the truth.

Danielle nodded and put the bracelet on her left wrist, watching as it shrunk and resized itself to fit her perfectly, it was as if she could barely feel it. Surprising them both, Danielle hugged Apollo and Hermes.

"Thanks. Hermes, I know we haven't really interacted but so far you are my favorite uncle."

Hermes looked pleased with himself.

"Apollo, you are pretty much the crazy older brother or cousin I could ask for."

The look on Apollo's face was priceless as he slumped to the floor, "NOOOOOOOOO! WHY!"

Hermes laughed, "Ooh, you got burned, Apollo. Ironic since you're the sun god."

Danielle shrugged and patted Apollo on the head, smiling. "Thanks Apollo, that was just what I needed after that quest."

Apollo just nodded, looking miserable that Danielle considered him family and nothing more. He had stopped trying to get with a lot of his sister's Hunters over the centuries but he had secretly hoped that this Hunter could change that. But if she considered him family…it was hopeless.

"APOLLO!"

Hermes recognized the voice that had yelled and burst into laughter again. Artemis was walking quickly, Thalia in tow, toward them and Apollo clearly didn't want to deal with her.

"Apollo, are you flirting with my Hunters again?"

Apollo just shook his head sadly.

Danielle couldn't help but pity him. "Don't worry lady Artemis. I just told him that I considered him an older brother or cousin."

Artemis took that in for a moment before both she and Thalia burst out laughing as well, which got even better seeing the devastated look on Apollo's face.

"Why won't anyone support me here?" Apollo whined.

Artemis let her laughter die down, "you don't need support. Now get out of here."

Apollo just nodded sadly and left in a burst of light.

Hermes chuckled a little, "you got a good hunter here Artemis. Sorry about cutting this meeting short but I have to run."

_'Good, you've got about 117 messages from Demeter while you were talking,'_ said a voice from Hermes' pocket.

Hermes sighed and pulled out his cell phone, which had small twin snakes coiling around it. "Darn, that woman just won't get off my back about the flowers I have to deliver."

_'You agreed to this when you became the messenger of the gods,'_ said the voice, which sounded female.

_'But she never gives us rats,'_ said another voice that sounded male.

Hermes sighed, "George, Martha, just can it on the rats, already." He looked up at the three Hunters, "sorry but I have to run."

As he ran off, Danielle was sure that George was complaining, _'She's touching me.'_

_'For the last time, we're intertwined, we're always touching,'_ said Martha.

Artemis shook her head as Hermes ran off, "I don't know how he deals with those two."

Thalia smirked, "the same way you deal with us, milady."

The goddess of the hunt and moon had to agree with that. "Okay, I am going to transport us to the Hunter's camp. The hunt should be camping a little way outside of Manhattan."

Taking the twelve-year-old goddess's hands, they disappeared from the party in a bright silver light.

Sure enough, when they had reappeared on the ground, they saw that they were only a few yards away from the campsite. Unfortunately, Danielle's good mood left her. Now that she was back with the Hunt, what was she supposed to tell them about Zoe or Bianca? Hoping that lady Artemis would explain, she followed the goddess and Thalia to the others.

As soon as they reached the camp, huge cheers rose up from the Hunters to find their Mistress safe from her prison. The next half hour was lost in applause as the Hunters celebrated.

Artemis smiled once the welcome back calmed down, "it is good to see all of you again as well. The quest to save me was a success and I promise to not leave you behind again for a long, long time."

The Hunters smiled, it was good to have her back. Phoebe stepped forward, "Milady, what happened? And where is Zoe?"

Danielle and Thalia flinched at the questions, especially the last one.

Artemis sighed, "That is quite the story."

For the next few hours, the three of them told them the story of what happened. Meeting up with Percy, taking down the boar and the skeleton warriors, facing off against Talos, Bianca's sacrifice to save them all, the battle against Atlas, Zoe's death, and finally Thalia becoming the new lieutenant.

To say the Hunters were shocked would have been an understatement. Zoe had been like the older sister many of them had never had.

"She's gone?" asked Phoebe angrily.

Danielle nodded sadly, "I wish she wasn't."

To the surprise of many, Phoebe yelled in fury. "Damn that Jackson! Bet it was his fault!"

Both Danielle and Thalia tried to defend Percy when Artemis beat them to it. "Enough!" Everyone stared at her in shock.

Phoebe glared at everyone, "milady, he got Zoe killed!"

Artemis shook her head sadly, "no, he didn't Phoebe. I would never blame anyone, male or otherwise, for Zoe's death. The prophecy showed her death and she knew it from the beginning. 'One shall perish by a parents' hand' was Atlas attacking his daughter, Zoe. If anyone is to blame it is Atlas but do not disgrace Zoe's memory by blaming it on someone else who doesn't deserve it. Zoe died a hero's death, let her have it Phoebe."

Phoebe winced at the thought of being disrespectful of her best friend and calmed down, still looking angry.

Lady Artemis took in a deep breath, "girls, Thalia is the new lieutenant of the hunt. She proved herself worthy of the title after the quest to save me. As my new second, she is the one that shall look after the day-to-day running of the camp here.

"For now, we rest and in a few days we leave for another hunt. Lord Zeus would like us to hunt down the more dangerous monsters before they can join Kronos. We leave in two days."

Lady Artemis bade them farewell and went to her tent to focus on what they should hunt next, leaving Danielle and Thalia to the mercy of the other hunters who wanted more details of what had happened.

It wasn't until lunchtime when they finally stopped asking questions long enough for them to eat.

(The next day)

Through the trees of the hunter camp stood the only member of the hunt to come back alive from the quest to save lady Artemis. Danielle was leaning against a tree about a half-mile from the camp, staring at a small stream and trying to figure out how she felt about everything that had happened.

Bianca and Zoe, gone. She still felt like crying at the loss of her first friend and the beginning of a new one. Zoe had been the one to find her, befriended her, and warned her about Apollo, now she was gone.

She wished it was nighttime so she could see the new constellation that Artemis had put up in the sky but it was the middle of the afternoon.

A sound got her attention and she got her bow out, but it was only Thalia, their new lieutenant. Thalia was nice and had been a good leader so far, but she had only gotten the job the previous day so it was hard to be sure if she was really ready for this. On the other hand, Thalia had only just joined and she was already the second in command, which did get her some resentment from a few of the hunters.

Technically speaking, Phoebe should have taken over as lieutenant. She had been second in charge under Zoe after all. But Danielle figured that Thaia's position of being Artemis's half-sister might have made a difference. It was probably for the best as Phoebe hated guys to a level where she wouldn't even think clearly if she came across one, beating them to a pulp is they so much as looked at her funny. That kind of attitude was what made her the muscle in the Hunt, but not so much in the ways of leadership.

As for herself?

While Danielle could lead, and a few girls had asked Artemis why she wasn't lieutenant already, she wasn't ready to lead full time. Having that kind of responsibility was a full time job and while she might be ready for it in a few decades or centuries, that time was not today.

"About time I found you."

Danielle smiled as much as she was able before turning back to the stream, "didn't know you were looking for me."

Thalia smirked, "so far, you're my only friend in the camp. Of course I would seek you out."

The red head sighed, "great." She looked and saw that Thalia was looking depressed. Sighing again, she turned to face her, "sorry, but we just lost Zoe and with you taking her spot…"

Thalia sighed herself and stood next to her, "not like I wanted the job." She referred to the tiara on her head, "I just didn't want to be the one in the prophecy. No thanks but I don't want a cursed blade reaping my soul anytime soon."

Danielle managed a smile, "good to know you have such loyalty to the Hunt." She let out a breath, "I just…miss Zoe, my first friend and sister."

Thalia nodded like she understood and they stood in silence for a while. Danielle looked up suddenly and groaned, "Why lord Zeus, what did I do to you?"

Before Thalia could ask what she meant, a burst of fire appeared about ten feet away and revealed a scarlet and gold bird, the same one as a week previous.

"Has it been a week already?" Danielle mused to herself before walking over to the bird. "Fawkes, did the old man seem determined about this?"

Fawkes trilled and bobbed his head up and down. Rolling her eyes, Danielle took the letter from his legs. "I'm thinking of talking to him and nipping this in the bud right now."

Thalia looked interested, "talking to this old man? What if he tries to make you leave the Hunt?"

Danielle smiled at her while fishing in her pockets, "not likely, but glad to know you care."

She found what she was looking for and pulled out her wand. Using a weak water spell, a stream of mist came out of the tip and created a rainbow through the sunlight. Tossing in a drachma from her pocket, she said, "oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering."

The drachma vanished through the rainbow, "show me Albus Dumbledore."

The air around the rainbow shimmered, and the head of Dumbledore came into view, unfortunately, he wasn't alone. The image only showed the back of his head, but it also showed two people that Danielle never wanted to see again, even after her talk with Hera. The man had unruly black hair and glasses, hazel eyes and fancy looking black robes. The woman had deep red hair, exactly the same as hers, and emerald green eyes. She was also wearing fancy green robes.

Danielle caught on to the fact that Dumbledore was talking. "Lily, I keep telling you that I don't know where Danielle is. I have Fawkes looking for her so I should hear from her quickly. She needs training if she is going to defeat Voldemort."

Lily looked tearful, "Albus, she is still my baby, we can't just train her for war."

That statement from Lily Potter of all people couldn't stop Danielle from bursting out laughing, a cold one with no humor behind it. The noise made the three jump and turned to look at her, Lily only needed a moment before she recognized the person who had laughed.

"Danielle! Oh, I'm so sorry for what happened all those years ago! Please come back to us! I swear I'll be a better parent and-"

Danielle cut her off, "oh, so you want to be a mother to me again? Well, that is news to me." Her voice was icy and words sharp, "the last time I was around, you were never a mother to me at all."

Lily flinched and reeled back. James's eyes were wide, "Danielle, uh, great to see you again."

Danielle gave him a deadpan expression, "really James? The last thing I remember you telling me all those years ago was for me to 'never darken our doorstep again' and 'you are a disgrace on the family.'"

James flinched as well, "I was stupid! You are my daughter and I-"

"And you wasted that!" yelled out Danielle, now fully furious. "I was thirteen and you punished me for things that were beyond my control! Who were the ones that yelled at me if I so much as sneezed in David's general direction? Who were the ones that shouted at me for 'daring' to be a Hufflepuff instead of the majesty of Gryffindor? Who were the ones that disowned me for merely getting better grades that my idiot of a brother?"

Danielle was panting, all the years of neglect were coming out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I was raised by house-elves who took pity on me instead of my own parents! David turned everyone against me from the beginning and you did nothing to stop him! Hades! You even encouraged him, following through on his plans to deprive me of everything!"

Lily and James were aging by the second, never guessing what it was like from their daughters point of view.

Dumbledore came into the image, "Miss Potter-"

Danielle cut him off, "didn't you hear old man? I'm no longer a Potter; these two took my last name as well. My name is Danielle and that is it."

Dumbledore sighed but nodded, "of course. Danielle, it is imperative that you come back to Britain as soon as possible. There is a war going on and-"

"And that is your problem," said Danielle, not missing a beat. "I'm involved in my own war at the moment and I think it trumps yours in comparison. I think that the fate of Western Civilization is more important than the UK headmaster."

Dumbledore seemed surprised, "you would doom all of magical Britain for another war? You were born and raised here."

Danielle snorted, "and I found a home and a family here. These two," gesturing to Lily and James, "are not my family. They are my parents and that is it, there is no connection between us and there will never be any." She had promised to Hera that she would try to connect to them again, but this needed to be said; it was a long time coming.

Lily was openly crying now while James looked grim, comforting her. Dumbledore looked grave, "what kind of family is that, Danielle?"

Danielle gave a nasty smile, "wouldn't you like to know. Don't worry, I'm not going dark or whatever you call it, I just have new sister figures and even a mother figure that puts Lily to shame. As for magical Britain, it could burn to the ground for all I care, what has it done for me? I had no friends at Hogwarts, David had seen to that, none of the professors wanted anything to do with me. You yourself headmaster always brushed me to the side when I wanted to talk about something important or at least intellectually stimulating."

Dumbledore looked sick, Fawkes trilled sadly on Danielle's shoulder. "I know Fawkes, I'm disappointed in the old man too. I thought that he would come up with a good reason for me to go back, but I guess I was wrong."

Unlike Dumbledore, the phoenix had actually liked the girl that was petting him. The old man had constantly gone on and on about the chosen one defeating Voldemort but had been blind in assuming that the boy was the hero. Fawkes had met David multiple times had been…underwhelmed.

While he was Dumbledore's familiar, he had been a great man years ago; he still had a mind of his own. All the scarlet and gold bird could think of at this moment was refusing to follow Dumbledore's plan on flashing Danielle to Britain if it looked like she wouldn't come back. Essentially kidnapping a teenage girl against her will wasn't the 'light' thing to do.

Dumbledore looked taken aback at how Danielle had talked to his familiar, "isn't there anyone that you would fight for here?"

Danielle took in a deep breath, "aside from Mad-Eye Moody who gave me some training in how to use magic without a wand, no. Like I said before, dark wizards could burn the whole society down to ashes and I wouldn't lose any sleep over it."

Thalia looked uneasy, "Danielle, if there is a maniac running loose in Britain, shouldn't we try to stop it?"

Danielle rolled her eyes, "Thalia. The wizarding word in Britain is pretty large. Even if Voldemort is back, he only has a few dozen followers and a large army that couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. Normal witches and wizards vastly outnumber them, a hundred to one at least, and they don't do anything. The magical world is lazy and simply waits for their chosen heroes to save them. That is not a society that I want to try to save."

Dumbledore seemed to notice the other girl for the first time, "ah, Miss…"

Thalia looked at the old man coldly, "Thalia. I recently went on an adventure with Danielle here and she didn't have anything positive to say about any of you. I personally don't care but I didn't have a good relationship with my mother either so I can relate. I ran away from home when I was nine and I never looked back and my life is pretty good now. I'm sorry sir but unless you appeal to something Danielle cares about there, you won't be seeing her there again."

Dumbledore looked somber but seemed to take what she said to heart. "Very well, just know that you have a home here Danielle."

Danielle glared at him, "my home is not in the UK headmaster. If Voldemort is back then it is time for you to defeat him, it's not my job."

Lily seemed to see that the call was about to end so she interceded, "you're the chosen one! Voldemort attacked you that night!"

That made Danielle hesitate, then she burst out laughing again. Recovering, she gave a cold smile, "ironic. You treated David like the ultimate hero in the universe and me like dirt on your shoe. Now you want my help when I couldn't care less. You reap what you sow, hope you enjoy defeating your dork lord without me."

Danielle waved her hand through the rainbow and cut the connection.

She closed her eyes and counted to twenty before opening them again. "Fawkes, I think you better go back."

The phoenix trilled sadly again before flying off her shoulder; a few moments later, there was a flash of flames, and he was gone.

**Whew, long chapter. And now we are done with Titans Curse. The next chapter will probably be some filler before The Last Olympian. I already wrote out a lot of it but it's not done yet so be patient.**

**I gave Danielle the power boost to defeat Atlas because I was tired of them not being able to do ANYTHING against him. The full blessing thing was the only thing I could think of. It was a one time thing and will never show up again, don't worry.**

**I fully admit that I did cry a bit when I wrote out Zoe's death scene. I wish she hadn't have died but it was just the way the story went and** **her death was foretold and I couldn't have changed that.**

**Danielle's bracelet will also be a big thing coming up. It won't be a game changer, but it will help and it was created by the one who made the magical world in the first place so it should help.**

**Thank you for reading and until next time.**


	4. Dreams, a new friend, and idiots

**Wow, a lot of reviews. You guys rock! First, thank you all for your interest. Second, I have to wonder why no one ever has tried this before. A girl-who-lived who was also a Hunter of Artemis? The idea of a female 'chosen one' is pretty popular and the Hunters are even more so. I guess everyone just likes the idea of pairing her up and that can't happen if she's a Hunter.**

**I've been getting comments wondering why Dumbledore, James and Lily didn't notice she was older. To be perfectly honest, I forgot about that. But, I do have an answer! Danielle was thirteen when she ran away, in Titan's Curse, she would be about fifteen or sixteen if she aged normally. The three mentioned above never really noticed her looks and with the blessing of Artemis in place, she looks more mature and healthy than if she had stayed in Britain. Sure, it won't work after the war against Kronos, but combined with the fact that Dumbledore and the Potter didn't expect an Iris message of all things, they were too surprised to notice how young she looked.**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

_"Mum! Mum! Look what I did!"_

_Danielle was running up to Lily happily, waving around a picture of Potter Manor and the surrounding woods done in crayon._

_Lily rolled her eyes at her four-year-old daughter. "Not right now. I have to get David ready for our next report." They were going to Diagon Alley and were going to 'accidently' run into a Daily Prophet reporter. David hadn't been seen in public in weeks after all and the sight of the boy-who-lived made fans go wild._

_Danielle looked down, sighing sadly before going back to her room. She and David had shared a room when they were younger, but after that Halloween night at Godric's Hallow, her parents had decided that David needed his own room._

_Her room was mostly neat but had a few loose clothes here and there. The walls were an off white colour and covered in little drawings that any little kid would have done. Pictures of Potter Manor, of the various people that had visited; including many of Sirius in dog form, and a lot of the family were just a few._

_James was always flying on his broom in those pictures, laughing as he tried to teach his toddler of a son how to fly as well. Lily would just stand around and watch with 'Uncle Padfoot' and 'Uncle Moony.' David would try to fly as high as he could with his toy broom, skimming the surface of the grass while trying to get higher than the broom could handle._

_The last figure was always Danielle herself, sitting by a tree and either drawing them all or simply reading a book. Close to the action, but not included. Not far enough to be a stranger, but never fully accepted._

_Danielle sighed again and layed down on her bed, trying hard not to cry at being left behind again. She hated being brushed aside for her brother but she hated not being with them more. At least with them, she could pretend that they might care about her._

_She just snuggled into her pillow, wishing that she could stop crying._

_Danielle was seven, standing by the trees in the backyard of Potter Manor and trying one of the spells that she had seen in her parents's old school books. She had found a stick and was trying to levitate it but she just couldn't manage it. The stick refused to budge. She had even tried throwing it in the air herself and tried to use magic to keep it like that, but that had failed too. She was unaware that someone was watching her._

_Finally, she got angry at the stupid stick and kicked it angrily. To her surprise and slight horror, the stick exploded into a firey inferno. The fire went out quickly but it was still a shock._

_"Good on you lass!"_

_Turning around, she was surprised to be looking into the face of one of her father's old work friends, Mad-Eye Moody. The grizzled old ex-auror was leaning against a tree and was watching her with both eyes._

_Danielle got nervous, her parents hated any accidental magic around the house, as long as she was the one who had done it. "You, you won't tell my parents, will you?"_

_Moody surprised her by giving a bark laugh. "Tell on you? No, lass, I think you got potential after that! Tell you what, try to think of your magic forming into a hand and lifting the stick into the air."_

_Cocking her head to the side, she shrugged and quickly found another stick. She tried to do as Moody had told her and concentrated on her magic, forming a hand and picking the stick off the ground._

_She was surprised when the stick gave a wobble and actually got a few inches off the ground. She was so stunned by her success that she lost her concentration and the stick hit the grass again._

_Danielle smiled happily and to the surprise of both herself and the grizzled old ex-auror, she gave him a hug around the middle. "Thank you!"_

_Moody just extracted himself slowly from the girl and held her at arms length. "Tell you what, if I find the time and you're free, I might teach you a thing or two. What do you say?"_

_Seeing that he didn't want to be hugged again, Danielle nodded happily, a bright smile on her face._

_Moody nodded, giving her a lopsided smile. "That's good. Now, where's your father? I needed to talk to him about something."_

_Danielle's mood darkened slightly and shrugged, "probably inside worshiping the ground that David has stepped on."_

_Moody gave another bark like laugh, ruffled her hair and walked to the Manor. He had to wonder why the Potters would ignore this girl if she was this much of a natural with magic but shrugged it off as none of his business._

_Danielle sat at the Hufflepuff table at Hogwarts and tried to start a conversation with someone but they all edged away from her. She scowled at her 'perfect older twin brother' David at the Gryffindor table but didn't say anything. On the train ride and in the chamber off the hall before the sorting the previous day David had told anyone who would listen that she was mentally unbalanced, crazy and violent._

_She had tried to talk to Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot the previous night but they had scooted away from her, like she had a rare disease and was contagious._

_She ate her breakfast without complaint but it still annoyed her at what the hall had done when her name was called the night before._

_'Danielle Potter?' 'Who is that?' 'I didn't even know David had a sister,' 'Think she might get me his autograph?' 'Bet she's a poser, isn't even related to the Potters at all!'_

_Danielle had to stop herself from breaking the spoon she was holding as she ate her cereal. These people didn't even know her! Who were they to judge her based on those stupid blighter's that were her parents and the idiots at the Daily Prophet!_

_Her mental attack on all those around her was broken when the mail arrived. She tried to ignore a handsome eagle owl giving David a care package along with a letter from James and Lily a few tables over but was surprised when another owl landed in front of her._

_Who would write her a letter? The owl was obviously a public one from a post office, so the owner didn't want to be recognized. Shrugging, she opened the letter to find what was inside that needed secrecy. She was disgusted with the note:_

_Danielle Lily Potter!_

_How dare you become a Hufflepuff! Don't you know that only lackies and losers get into that house! Why couldn't you get into Gryffindor like your brother? I don't know where we went wrong with you but you better shape up or else we WILL take you out of Hogwarts._

_Gryffindors are brave and fight for what is right. Hufflepuffs are cannon fodder and only good for taking hits from the real witches and wizards! The only thing that would shame me more is if you wound up in Slytherin or something. Stay away from David or else his amazing talent will become corrupted with your filth._

_Don't bother coming home for Christmas or Easter. We are seriously considering renting out your room here in the Manor to make the place at least somewhat useful. I already warned the Professors at Hogwarts about you so your lies that David is not a perfect angel will be ignored._

_Don't cross me or your mother or else!_

_James Charlus Potter._

_Danielle read the letter twice to make sure she was getting the message her own father was trying to convey. She crushed the letter into a ball and burned it with some wandlessly conjured fire under the table to avoid suspicion._

_Her own family wanted to ignore her huh? Well, too bad. She was a Potter and she was not going to run and hide even if her own father told her to! No, she would hold her head high and go about her business. And the first thing she was going to do was find out why the scar on her chest hurt every time she looked at Professor Quirrell._

_Danielle was rushing up to Dumbledore's office, excited. After this whole 'Heir of Slytherin' thing started getting out of hand, she started researching her own spells and creating ones she thought would be helpful. She wasn't sure of the practical application of a spell that could shoot an arrow made of light from her wand but was positive that Dumbledore would think of something._

_She was just getting to the stone gargoyle when she frowned, she didn't know the password to get into the headmaster's office. She stared at the gargoyle._

_"Uh, could you tell the headmaster that a student would like to show him something?"_

_As expected, the stone statue didn't do anything. She started to get annoyed._

_"You know, since the headmaster only uses candy passwords, this can only go two ways. One way is that I say every kind of candy I can think of until I get lucky and get the right one, or you just let me go up and save us both a lot of time and effort. The choice is yours."_

_The gargoyle seemed to consider that, or at least, that was what she thought the statue was doing with that unmovable stone face. Finally, the gargoyle's eyes glowed slightly and moved aside for the wall to crack open to show the spiral stone staircase._

_"Thank you."_

_The gargoyle didn't say anything of course, but she was sure that it might have smiled at her. Shrugging it off, she went up the staircase until she got to the door to the headmaster's office._

_She knocked and a voice inside said, "Come in."_

_Opening the door, she saw the headmaster's office in person for the first time. It was a large room separated into two sections. The first part had various cabinets and a table with little spindly instruments on it. The second part, separated from the first part by a step, held Dumbledore's desk and bookcases along the walls full of books. All along the walls were portraits of previous headmasters and headmistresses, all feigning sleep in their frames. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix familiar, sat on a perch by the desk, looking horrible as the usual scarlet feathers looked more like a dull magenta. Even as she watched, Fawkes gave a small trill and a few feathers came out of his tail._

_'Must be close to a burning day,' Danielle thought as she approached the desk._

_Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking like she had interrupted him doing some paperwork as his quill was hastily put aside and a few papers were askew. The headmaster looked at her with what looked like a small case of annoyance._

_"Ah, Miss Potter, what can I do for you?"_

_Danielle shook herself from her reverie. "Ah, right. Headmaster, I was wondering what the school policy of creating new spells are. I was thinking that I should protect myself from all these attacks with a spell that only I know. The problem was that I couldn't find anything about this in any of the school rules or in the school charter so I came to you."_

_Dumbledore looked at her from behind his half-moon glasses. "Miss Potter, it is highly unlikely that you would have created your own spell at only twelve. I suggest you stop wasting my time and leave me to my work."_

_Danielle was stunned at the casual dismissal that her own headmaster had given her, like she was so inconsequential that she wasn't even a blip on his radar. She changed strategy, "I was also thinking about all these attacks on the students and I was just wondering if you had consulted the ghosts about this. After all, who better to know the last victim than someone who had been around at the time? That, and I looked at the school records and the-"_

_"Enough," Dumbledore interrupted her. "Miss Potter, this is a serious matter that will be investigated by professionals. If that is all, would you please leave my office?"_

_Danielle was now fully glaring at him and turned on her heel to leave. She walked down the staircase in a huff before growling and holding her wand out, firing an arrow made of light at the nearest painting. The inhabitant squealed in fright and ran as a huge hole was formed in the canvas._

_Not caring whatsoever, she stormed out of the castle, fuming. If Dumbledore had listened to her, she would have told him that the last person to die when the Chamber of Secrets was opened last was someone named Myrtle Henderson; a Ravenclaw Muggle-born who died in her fifth year. It didn't take a rocket scientist to point out that it was probably Moaning Myrtle who had died fifty years ago and was the latest victim._

_The strange thing about her death though was that her body didn't have any claw marks, bite wounds, or anything typical of a monster attack. It was almost like she was hit by the killing curse, as there wasn't a mark on her body._

_Figuring that since no one else seemed to care about the Chamber, she went up to the abandoned girl's bathroom on the second floor. This was a lead, she knew it! She would show her parents and Dumbledore that she was not useless! She would show them all what a true Hufflepuff could do!_

**(Yellowstone National Park, six months later)**

Danielle was confused when she woke up. Why would she have dreams of her past now? She had buried those memories so completely when she had joined the Hunt all those years ago that she hadn't been bothered by them. Now they suddenly showed up again. What were the Fates trying to tell her?

She shook it off as she walked out of her tent. The Hunt had just finished destroying a group of monsters that were making their way east the night before, toward Manhattan. Artemis concluded that they were probably trying to join Kronos for the invasion of Olympus. It was a pretty simple attack; the monsters weren't expecting them and were defeated quickly.

A few hours later, the Hunt was awake and was ready to keep going. Lady Artemis had revealed that a large drakon had been sighted a few days south of them and was also heading for New York.

After several hours of running through trees, they wound up in some sort of large clearing. The trees were completely blackened and there was no sign of vegetation in any direction other than the one they had just come from.

In Yellowstone, this was perfectly normal. Natural fires were allowed to burn unhindered here until they ran themselves out of fuel. By the sign of this clearing, and Artemis checking the trees and soil, the fire had occurred about fifty years ago.

They were just about to continue on when a voice got their attention.

"For the last time, get away from me!"

With a squeal and a small grunt, they saw what appeared to be a satyr running away from the lone healthy redwood tree in the area. Its wood was slightly blackened but was still alive and seemed to be doing well. That was strange as all the others around it were lifeless. The voice had come from a girl that had a pixish face, slightly pointed ears, and hair and clothes the same reddish brown color as the redwood.

The Hunt watched, fascinated, as the girl seemed to be throwing pinecones at the satyr, who was running away with his tail between his legs.

"Yeah, that will show you!" yelled the dryad, holding more pinecones.

The satyr was about to run past them but stopped when he saw who they were. The goat man stopped and bowed to lady Artemis respectfully but was repayed with a pinecone bonking him on the head.

"That girl has a good arm," said Thalia. "Pretty good aim as well."

Phoebe nodded, "she is good."

Artemis seemed to agree and watched as the dryad yelled some more, "you're still here? Eat this!"

Several satyrs they hadn't noticed started running when the dryad started throwing pinecones again. The surprising part was that the pinecones were on fire. This girl throwing flaming projectiles at the half goats impressed the entire Hunt; Artemis decided what she wanted to do very quickly.

"Peace, young dryad."

The girl stopped when she saw lady Artemis. As was common with dryads, or anyone related to the godly world, she gave her the respect she was deserved and bowed low. "Lady Artemis."

Artemis turned to the Hunt. "Thalia, prepare a small camp here. I wish to know our new friend."

Thalia nodded and got everything ready. The goddess of the hunt put a hand on the girl's shoulder and led her away from the others so they could talk without being overheard.

"What is your name?" asked Artemis when they were sufficiently away from the others.

"Elizabeth, dryad daughter of Hermes," she looked tired but respectful as much as she could. "I am sorry for the scene you saw but it happens often here."

"What do you mean?"

Elizabeth sighed. "This whole clearing used to be filled with trees and was actually a common rest stop for many gods. The number of dryads here was a big attraction and that drew in a lot of the, ehem, male Olympians."

Artemis got what she was saying instantly, glowering at who she thought were the most guilty. Apollo and Hermes for example

Elizabeth continued. "Anyway, a fire broke out about fifty, fifty-five years or so ago and wiped out this whole area. My own mother died in the blaze. The only thing that saved me was my patron."

"Patron?" Artemis was confused, what god or goddess would sponser a dryad of all people?

Elizabeth smiled now. "Hestia. When gods used to come here all the time, lady Hestia came as well. She told me that she loved this place and we became close, as strange as that seems."

Personally, Artemis thought that was pretty typical of her aunt. She could see Hestia coming here now and then when she wasn't on Olympus, enjoying nature and the dryads.

"I remember when Hestia used to walk around a little trail around here," Elizabeth looked into the distance, as if seeing something only she could see. "There was a nice river with crystal clear water that was a favorite with the naiads that we used to walk along.

"When she asked me if I would like anything for keeping her company every time she came, I told her that I didn't need anything. I'm a dryad. What could I use? Impressed, Hestia decided for me to become her sort of champion. Or at least, gave me some resistance toward fire." Elizabeth sighed as she looked around. "It was thanks to her blessing that I survived when no one else did. Over time, out of sheer boredom of being the only one here, I learned how to manipulate fire."

"And the satyrs?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm the only dryad in this area of Yellowstone. With how much nature magic is in this park, I'm like a magnet to all satrys around. I promised myself that I would stay a maiden since I have no interest in them and just want to be left alone."

Artemis considered her story. To her, this dryad could use some excitement and was tired of being the only one of her kind here. She smiled, she could use a fire user in her ranks. "Elizabeth, what do you think of joining the Hunt?"

She was met with a shocked expression, then a hopeful one, before it turned into disappointment. "I would love to lady Artemis, the chance to see more of the world is tempting, but I am fond of my tree. I have lived here for about one hundred fifty years."

Artemis nodded, understanding the sentimental value. "If I place a blessing of the hunt on your tree, it would be safe from vandals. That would free you to travel with us. We saw your powers over fire and you have good aim, we could use you."

Elizabeth didn't have to think about it too hard. "I agree. Can't be any worse than staying here for another century and a half with nothing happening."

"Excellent, now repeat after me…"

**(Hogwart's Express, Late June, 2009)**

David glared out the windows as he thought of his life over the last few years. He had had it all. Fame, glory, the love of all of Hogwarts and magical Britain, he had it all. In the last few years however, right before the end of his fifth year, most of it had vanished.

Danielle.

He still hated that name! She had been one of the only ones that had not fawned over him right away. He was the chosen one! Everyone should bow to him! Without him, Voldemort would still be running around and killing everyone!

Oh, sure, a few hadn't followed him at first. Neville Longbottom had been skeptical when David had told him his side of the story but had agreed that it had made sense when he had heard it from Dumbledore. After all, Dumbeldeore could do no wrong. If the old man said something, it was taken as gospel!

Draco Malfoy had been another that hadn't bought his story either but he was the kid of a Death Eater, who cared what he thought. At least David had crossed that off his list of things to do to be like his father. Have an arrogant Slytherin rival.

How had he gone from being the darling of the wizarding world to being ignored like yesterday's news?

When had everything gone wrong?

When Voldemort had revealed that he had attacked his sister that Halloween night, he figured that the dark lord had made a mistake.

It was dark that night, right? Right?

The real kicker was that Dumbledore had confirmed that Voldemort was telling the truth. The most powerful dark lord in a century, the one that had taken his blood to come back in that graveyard, had used complex legilimancy to prove that he was telling the truth. The fact that he had done so in front of the entire Ministry of Magic after stealing a prophecy sphere only sealed the deal.

Overnight, the Potters had gone from _the_ most respected family in Britain, to one of the most hated. Rita Skeeter had been relentless in her attack on the Potters and had hounded them mercilessly. Article after article in not only the Daily Prophet but the Quibbler and other papers abroad had destroyed their reputation.

How could the loving family of the boy-who-lived treat one of their own like that? Did the Potters have any kind of remorse whatsoever? Where was Danielle now?

The whole thing made David want to throw up. Too bad he was holding onto one of the few people that didn't abandon him when the press slandered him. Ginny Weasley was a good girlfriend but he could tell that she was too enamored by the boy-who-lived thing to care about him. Didn't mean he couldn't use her as some arm candy though.

His parents hardly ever left the house anymore unless they had to. James had lost his place as Auror Captain and had to work double duty to get the position back after over two years. Lily was seen as a pariah and was avoided at all costs.

In private though, it was completely different. Lily would constantly look out the window, at the tree that Danielle had found was perfect for reading outside, now and then. As if wishing she could go back in time and learn about her daughter. James tried to laugh and joke as before but when someone mentioned his lost daughter, he would visibly age, like someone had force fed him an aging potion until the topic changed.

"Kind of strange, isn't it?" asked one of his friends in the compartment as they headed back to London. Hermione Granger was probably the smartest witch in her generation and was a loyal friend from the start when he had saved her from a mountain troll in their first year. Hermione continued, "to be graduating from Hogwarts."

"A relief if you ask me," said Ron Weasley. The less said about him the better as he was lazy, had a serious lack of self-worth with all of his older brothers, and only cared about Quidditch and chess. "Now we don't have to worry about homework anymore, or Snape glaring at me in Potions."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "honestly, Ronald. He isn't very pleasent to be around, but he does now his potions. And it wasn't really his fault you blew up fifteen cauldrons in a month."

Ron wasn't listening as he turned to David. "Mate, when are we going to go out and defeat You-Know-Who? Dumbledore tell you anything yet?"

David's expression turned from neutral to a frown. "No, he's doing all he can to get my sister back." He snorted, "like we need her," he muttered darkly.

Hermione shook her head. She had never really had any contact with the youngest Potter female before she had vanished but all the rumors about her put her off. She didn't even realize that David was the one spreading those rumors about her in the first place until she was already gone. Regardless, she still harbored some resentment at David's sister for beating her as top of the class back in their second year.

She didn't approve of banishing her from the family, but she stayed out of it, writing it off as none of her business.

Although, looking back, she had to wonder how many of those rumors were even remotely true. The way David told her, it was like Danielle was murdering sacks of kittens in the Great Hall every day.

Ron snorted. "David, you know you're better than your sister without trying. I mean, what, she only attended Hogwarts for two years? You got five years on her, what is she going to do?"

David nodded, but was only partially listening. The fact of the matter was, he didn't know what Danielle was capable of and she outshined almost everyone in class; Hermione being the only exception. What kind of magic could one learn after being out of the country for years?

He shook off the thoughts and continued to look out the window again. He needed as much energy as possible to survive the training his father Sirius and Lupin had given him.

**(Dumbledore's Office, Late June 2009)**

Dumbledore was sitting in his desk as the Hogwarts Express left for London that morning. He had some bittersweet memories of this particular group of students that had just graduated and he had no idea what to do about it.

On the one hand, the recently graduated class of '09 included the 'golden trio' of Hogwarts. Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and finally, David Potter. The three of them had done a lot for the school and at leat Miss Granger had tried her best to inspire some inter-house unity by incorporating several Ravenclaws into her study groups.

It was her idea also to start 'Dumbledore's Army' in her fifth year to combat Umbridge, assisted by Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter of course. While David had the skills, what with training from his father, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, he could out duel anyone in the school.

It wasn't enough.

He had had such high hopes for David. He was the boy-who-lived after all. But then things went pear-shaped in the worst possible of ways. Who in the name of Merlin would have thought that his sister was the 'chosen one'?

Oh sure, he had thought it had been strange when David had not had any strange flashes of memory or even a link into Voldemort's mind. He had sent David to Severus in the hopes that Occlumency training would allow his spy to find the Horcrux piece in the young man's mind.

Severus had come back to show that other than some 'nauseating' thoughts about Ginny Weasley and a James Potter level of arrogance, there was nothing special about the boy at all. No soul fragment. No mind link to the Dark Lord. No nothing.

Dumbledore had started to worry then but it had turned into full-fledged panic when not only did David not have dreams of the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries, he did not have any thoughts of a prophecy at all.

Then Voldemort had shown up in the Ministry.

That itself had been a great mystery. How did a feared and supposedly dead Dark Lord somehow break into the Ministry, go down into the Department of Mysteries, and take a prophecy sphere without anyone being the wiser?

Dumbledore sighed, taking another of his lemon drops as he continued to think. Tom had only showed himself to the public to not only cause panic in the streets, but also to completely demoralize the Order of the Phoenix. How was he supposed to know he should have focused on the girl!

After he had shown himself, Tom had gone on to calmly start a reign of destruction. Why shouldn't he? With the only one destined to defeat him nowhere in Britain, he could take all the time he wanted. The Order and the Aurors were running themselves ragged trying to find him and his Death Eaters but they seemed to be at least two steps ahead of them. Only showing up in small numbers, cause some damage, then leave before anyone could get to them.

Draco Malfoy had been the most outspoken proponent for Voldemort in all of Slytherin house. He alone had successfully turned almost a hundred students into Death Eater supporters if not outright followers and he couldn't do anything about it. The animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin was at an all time high.

Constant fighting between the two groups had broken out but he couldn't fully punish the Slytherins. Like it or not, if he expelled them, it would have just driven them to Voldemort faster.

No, it was best to use a light touch. Slytherin students needed to be gently guided them back to the light and away from the darkness. Harsh punishments would just force them to the darkness. It was for the best to wait for them to realize on their own that what they were doing was wrong and he would be waiting for them with open arms and lemon drops.

Of course, he needed to get rid of the one that was causing all this damage in the first place. And to do that, he needed the chosen one.

Danielle.

If he had her and trained her personally, she would be just what they needed. She would be a beacon for the light and everyone would come back to him on their knees, begging for forgiveness for ever going over to Voldemort in the first place. If only Fawkes had grabbed the girl when he had the chance.

Dumbledore took a moment to look at the swan sized bird, who was giving him a look that was almost unsettling to him. It was like the scarlet and gold bird was judging him!

"You could have solved us a lot of problems Fawkes," said the old man in his most grandfatherly voice. "If you had just listened to the plan, I'm sure this would have worked."

Fawkes didn't trill, bob his head, or do anything. He just stared at him, giving him a look that plainly said, 'you are an idiot!'

Dumbledore shook his head and tried to figure out what to do now. The prophecy clearly said that Voldemort would mark the chosen one. Tom had attacked Danielle that night. She was the only one who could defeat him. Why was it always up to him to make the hard choices? If only Fawkes would personally take him to see Danielle, he would solve all of this quickly.

"Where are you Danielle?" he asked himself softly.

Only now when he looked into the pensive of that day when she had contacted him did he realize how different she looked. She looked more mature, had a silvery glow of all things, and had looked at him with enough anger for at least a dozen Tom Riddles. He had no idea how the girl had created a two way mirror or whatever she had used to talk to them but he planned on finding out. The other girl, Thalia if he remembered correctly, had said something about finding a person or thing that had cared about her back then but he had been so concerned about David that he had ignored everything about her.

"I'm sure you are feeling right foolish of yourself headmaster," said a voice from a high shelf. The voice turned out to be from the sorting hat, who seemed to be looking at him with a look of scorn.

"And what do you mean by that?"

The hat got as smug a look as any hat could. "Reaching one hundred forty eight years and still blind to what is in front of him. Did it cross your mind that you have driven the poor girl away yourself? Has it crossed your most brilliant thoughts that you have brought this upon yourself? No, you had a vision of leading the chosen one to victory and anything else got in the way."

Dumbledore glared slightly at the hat before forcing himself to return to his own thoughts.

"Oh Fawkes," said the hat. "Do you think he will figure out what he did wrong or even where the girl is?"

Fawkes trilled sadly and it didn't take living over one hundred years to hear the tone of scorn in the music of the bird's cry. Fawkes had looked after Hogwarts for centuries, ever since his first bonded asked him to do so when the time was right. The bird could still remember when Mydrinn Emmrys had asked him to look after the best magical school in Britain when it was built and guide the leaders toward a brighter future. He had done his best, Rowena and Godric especially had loved him, but he felt like he had failed now.

In his early years, Albus had been a great wizard, even defeating his old friend Gellert Grindelwald back in '45. But now the old man was taking his advice less and less and now the 'chosen one' was in the employ in of the goddess of the hunt.

Oh yeah, Fawkes knew all about the gods. He had met several when the heart of the west was in Britain. He had even met the goddess of the hunt. Needless to say, he didn't need the wrath of a powerful twelve year old with a heavy dislike of men and an endless supply of arrows. Sure, he would come back if shot with a silver arrow, but he didn't trust that his newborn chick self would be safe with an angry Olympian if he had kidnapped one of her Hunters.

It wouldn't come to much anyway. If Danielle had a drachma and could call Artemis, she would come back to take her back to America anyway. And hell hath no fury like an auburn haired preteen goddess scorned!

Fawkes shook his majestic head as he watched Dumbledore plot and scheme for the best of Magical Britain. The prophecy was about as true as that fraud Trelawney but both the old man and Tom believed it and so it was going to come true on way or another. He was amazed by the arrogance of the Wizarding World sometimes. If one really wanted to defeat Tom, all it would take is all of them working together and Tom's army would be defeated in no time.

Fawkes had been around for millennia. He had seen the gods move from Greece to Rome to Britain and finally to America. He had witnessed the fall of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. He would survive the fall of Magical Britain if he had to. He just hoped that enough people would realize the truth eventually before time ran out.

**And that is a short chapter for you all. More of a filler chapter really but I'm still working on The Last Olympian and I have a few more scenes to go. I should be done in a week or so but I'm on a block on one of the scenes. Oh well. Thank you for reading and hope you are liking the story.**

**In the words of one of the greatest American minds of all time.**

**Excelsior!**

**I love Stan Lee**


	5. The Last Olympian Part one

**Wow, what is up with you guys? It's almost like you want me to continue this story! Well, here is another chapter like I promised you guys. Here's the problem, I've written all of what you've read in advance. Now I actually have to make you wait before I can get anther chapter out. (Boos) Hey, don't blame me! I've been writing this for a while and I have a really good idea of where I want this story to go but I can only write so fast.**

**About this pairing thing. About 90% of the reviews I've gotten either say I should pair Danielle up with someone or praising me for my writing. While I'm glad you like my writing, I feel uncomfortable pairing her up with a guy, being a guy myself. Not to mention that Artemis would kill me if I paired up one of her Hunters with someone. And yes, I've gotten a few reviews suggesting I pair her up with another Hunter. (Laughs manically), while the idea is interesting in getting around that little loophole, I think that the cliché of the Hunters being a group of man hating lesbians is done too often. Not to mention that my sister is essentially my beta and she was glaring at me the whole time I brought it up for a laugh. She feels really strongly against it for some reason. **

**How about this, if I get enough reviews once this story is over, I'll do a more mature version where I'll pair her up with Thalia or someone but I don't want to do it in a more family friendly version of this.**

**Anyway, I'm glad that everyone loved Fawkes's thoughts of Artemis. I had fun writing that. Sadly, Danielle is going to war against Kronos now. Enjoy.**

**(Manhattan, August 2009, After Deathly Hallows)**

"Hold it, Percy," some guy said. "You forgot the Lincoln Tunnel."

Thalia looked back at the Hunters. They wanted to make an impression on these loser campers and were certainly showing it. The wolves were milling around their feet and about half of the Hunters had falcons on their arms. Danielle smirked and nodded to Thalia, who smiled.

Thalia calmly walked across Fifth Avenue and shouted: "How about you leave that to us?"

All the campers looked around and looked surprised and relieved that they got reinforcements.

Thalia looked ready for combat. She had on a leather jacket in addition to the silvery camouflage pants and combat boots that the other Hunters were wearing. Her lieutenant tiara clashed horribly with her skull earrings or her 'Death to Barbie' T-shirt showing a Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.

The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."

While Annabeth ran forward to give her first sister figure a hug, Percy shook his head, smiling, and gave Danielle a high-five.

"Good to see you," Percy said.

Danielle smiled, Percy was a good guy and he had helped Artemis a while back so the Hunters had no reason to shoot him with an arrow…yet.

Danielle herself was dressed like the other Hunters. Her long dark red hair was tied in a ponytail for the battle. Her bracelet of Hecate that held a ton of magic for her use was on her wrist while her wand was hidden in a holster strapped to her arm.

"Nice to see you too Perce," she said. "Shall we kick some monster ass or will it just be us?"

Percy mock-glared at her. "Let's defend Manhattan. We'll talk later." He turned to Thalia, "where have you been the last year? You've got like twice as many Hunters now!"

Thalia laughed. "Long, long story. I bet my adventures were more dangerous than yours, Jackson."

Percy looked like he would take that bet. "Complete lie."

"We'll see," she promised. "After this is over, you, Annabeth, and me: cheeseburgers and fries at that hotel on west 57th."

"Le Parker Meridien," Percy said. "You're on. And Thalia, thanks."

She shrugged, "those monsters won't know what hit them. Hunters, move out!"

She slapped her silver bracelet and the shield Aegis spiraled into full form, the golden head of Medusa moulded in the center was so horrible, the campers all backed away. The Hunters took off down the avenue, followed by the wolves and falcons.

XXXX

If no one had ever seen the Lincoln Tunnel, then just know that it was a pretty good place to send an army through. The tunnel itself ran under the Hudson River and connected Manhattan with New Jersey. When the Hunters got there, Danielle could see that there were three different roads or 'tubes' that got traffic from Jersey to Manhattan. That meant that Kronos would probably send his army through all three tubes.

"Okay," said Thalia, getting everyone's attention. "We cannot let some measly monsters through this tunnel. All of Olympus is counting on us and the campers to defend this city and this is one of the biggest routes Manhattan has. We need to defend all three tubes and keep them out, or at least collapse them if we need to."

"We could just collapse them now," said Francine. "That would stop the battle before it got started."

Thalia nodded, "true, but I don't want to cause too much destruction if we don't have to. Not only that, but I got the feeling that there might be mortals asleep down there." She didn't have to finish that thought, it would be hard to defend the tunnel if they had to worry about sleeping civilians. "We only destroy the tunnel if we have to. Other than that, just defend as well as you can. Besides, we can use the tunnel to get over to the other side and spy on the enemy. If we just blow it up, Kronos would move his forces to another bridge or tunnel. This way we can take at least a chunk of his army.

"Okay, so there are three tubes and about thirty of us. I say we get need ten Hunters per tube to handle all three. Put up traps to destroy the monsters but try not to damage the tunnel itself unless we need to. I will be monitoring all of you and help as much as I can. Okay? Break!"

It was a simple plan, but it was all they had. They all had a dozen jars of Greek fire each and could blow everything up if they needed to. They just hoped that they didn't need to. Ten Hunters went up the South Tube, ten more the North, that left Danielle and nine others with the central tube.

The Lincoln Tunnel was about a mile and a half long no matter which tube was taken so that left a lot of choices over what part of the Tunnel they should use to plant their traps. Danielle was with Elizabeth, Phoebe, and several others and all were ready to fight.

As it turned out, Kronos apparently didn't care about putting tourists to sleep if they were already leaving Manhattan. About a quarter mile into the tunnel, only the people in the cars coming into city were put to sleep while the others were able to get away.

Phoebe, as the defacto leader of their group for being the eldest Hunter, took charge when they were about halfway through the tunnel. "This should be good enough. Danielle, use magic to move the cars out of the way so we can set up a defensive line here. Holly and Gertrude, start planting traps and Greek fire, I want them hooked up so we can detonate them when I give the word. Sam, you take Elizabeth and Claire and explore the rest of the tunnel and scout ahead. I don't want any surprises, you hear me?"

Everyone nodded, this was nothing out of the ordinary for them.

"Good, the rest of you are with me. We need to find the weak point in this tunnel and prime it just in case we can't defend the tunnel. If we have to take this thing down to defend Manhattan, then so be it. Move out!"

Another round of nods and everyone got to work. Danielle was quick to use magic to move all the cars out of the way. As she only had to worry about a single lane of traffic, it wasn't too hard and after about half an hour, had cleared out a large space after she had sent all the cars toward the entrance of the tunnel.

After she was done, Danielle moved to help Holly and Gertrude make several traps. Not only did they make lines of Greek fire, but also hid several patches of an extremely sticky sap that Hunters a few centuries ago had discovered. The sap not only was sticky and hard to get off, but enough also slowed a monster's movements so they would be easier to take down later.

Once they were done barricading a large section of the tunnel, Phoebe and the others returned with Thalia.

"Very nice," said the daughter of Zeus. "As this is the central tunnel, it makes sense for Kronos to send his most experienced through this one. I doubt we can hold him off forever, but we will send as many of his forces to Tartarus as we can."

They cheered just as the scouting group came running back, they looked terrified of something they had seen. "Thalia! Bad news!"

Thalia's expression changed to slightly hopeful to serious in a heartbeat. "What did you find?"

Claire, a daughter of Hephaestus, answered, "we found the army. From what we saw, they're ready to march into the tunnel soon. Other than a WW II tank probably driven by a demigod, nothing truly out of the ordinary. The bad news is the leader. I know he's either a god or Titan but I've never seen him before so I don't know which one but he's powerful."

Thalia looked like she was mentally sighing before nodding. "Thanks Claire. We have to get ready. I have no idea what the enemy is thinking but I doubt that they would send a Titan this early into the war." She looked at them all, "let's get through this. For Artemis!"

"For Artemis!" shouted the ten other Hunters around her. Their goddess might be busy with something else, meaning Typhon, but they would do their best not to let some monsters get the best of them.

Thalia left them to check on the other tubes and that left them standing around and waiting for the army to show up. While not a very pleasent situation, waiting for the enemy to show up, it allowed them to make last minute preparations and get as good a position as possible.

Danielle had her bow out, planning on switching to hunting knives when the enemy got to close. Every Hunter also had their bow out, Holly was aiming at the jars of Greek fire, ready to shoot and send every monster to Tartarus in a flash of green flames.

Slowly but surely, they heard the army before seeing them. Loud thuds that rocked the whole tunnel were closing in on them but they got ready.

Finally, the enemy showed themselves. The army stood as wide as possible in the two lane road. Hellhounds, Laistrygonian giants, dracaenae, and other monsters, and they were all coming for them.

Phoebe nodded and gave the signal. Instantly, ten bows fired arrows as fast as possible and destroyed the front row of monsters; instantly vaporizing them and turning them to dust. When the first of the monsters got their act together, a giant roared and ran at them, his club raised to pound them to mulch. A simple arrow to the forehead took it down to the ground while another impaled itself in its side causing it to disintegrate.

That shook the stupor out of the others and they all charged at the Hunters, all wielding some form of armor or weapon. As soon as they got close enough, Claire hit the line of Greek fire, making a good dozen or so incinerate on impact. The Hunters were all shooting arrows as soon as possible, but even if every arrow took out a monster, about two more took their place.

Danielle growled and took out her knives just as half of her sisters did the same. Jumping forward, they were all hacking and slashing through the army. Every movement taking out a monster, never taking more than a few seconds on one before moving onto the next. But even with ten Hunters doing so, it was only good enough to hold them off, not push them back.

Danielle slashed through a hellhound only to lean out of the way before a dracaenae almost got her with her sword. Severing her arms from her body, she jumped away from a giant that threw a flaming cannon ball at her. Shooting him with an arrow so he dissolved, she winced as an enemy demigod got her in the shoulder with his sword. It wasn't a deep cut but it still stung.

Hitting the demigod with a wandless stunner that hit between his eyes from her hand, she leaped away from the battle for a moment to cast a minor healing charm to stop the bleeding before jumping into the fight again.

A sudden heat got her attention and she saw that Elizabeth was surrounded by hellhounds on fire. Knowing that her friend was using her fire powers, she focused on the two giants that wanted to run her through with their huge halberds. Knocking both weapons aside, Phoebe was there to help her as they both dodged their attacks and drove their knives into the monster's chests. Not even taking the time to widen their eyes, they both turned to dust.

Looking around, most of the army was either running in the way they came or was already in dust. They were about to celebrate when a sudden shaking alerted them to the tank the others had seen earlier. The Sherman WW II tank was huge, taking up the entire space between the ground and the ceiling. Its gun barrel looked like it was locked and loaded, ready to fire on them. Arrows wouldn't do anything against that thing.

"Claire," Phoebe muttered. "Do you see a weak spot on that thing?"

The daughter of Heaphestus shook her head. "Not from here. I suggest that we run and blow up the tunnel."

"I think I can slow it down at least," Elizabeth told them.

"Wait!"

Without even asking anyone if it was alright or not, the dryad Hunter conjured a stream of fire that partially melted the tank, even if it was probably reinforced with celestrial bronze.

Unfortunately, that act also counted as an attack and whoever was driving the tank decided to fire at them. Quickly picking Elizabeth up, who was panting from all the fire, Phoebe ran with the other Hunters up the tunnel and back toward Manhattan. Pushing a button as they ran, jars of Greek fire burst all over various strategic points of the tunnel.

Hunter speed was the only thing that saved them from being flattened and drowning from the falling debris from the walls and the Hudson River rushing into the tunnel. The tank didn't have a chance as its hot metal exterior was covered in the cold water, making it crumple and blow apart in the rush.

Outside the tunnel, the ten Hunters managed to make it to safety just in time before the rest of the tunnel collapsed. At least Kronos couldn't use it to invade Manhattan anymore. Moments later, the others showed up from their own tubes, all looking tired from their own fights.

Thalia was checking everyone for injuries, but was cut short by Phoebe glaring at Elizabeth. "Why did you do that?" she yelled. "We were going to blow up the tunnel anyway! All you did was make it attack us sooner."

Elizabeth scowled but stood toe to toe with the large daughter of Ares. "I wanted to help and I figured I could slow that tank down. So sorry to do my job but it worked out, didn't it?"

Phoebe growled, "that's not the point! All you did was make yourself a target and put yourself in danger."

Thalia came by at that point. "Hey, Phoebe, the battle is over, we should-"

"No! This isn't over. This girl just got us in trouble and you want to forget about it? If she had waited for one more second, I would have told her not to do anything. But no, she wanted to make herself a hero and looked what happened."

"I slowed that tank down and you know it!" Elizabeth almost screamed at her. "It would have blown us up if I hadn't, at least I did something!"

Phoebe actually made a step toward her but Thalia stepped between them. "Enough! Fighting between ourselves will get us nowhere." She gave them each a hard look. "Phoebe, we can't argue amongst ourselves if we are at war with an evil Titan Lord. Elizabeth, listen to orders next time and back us up, but don't be a hero who tries to do everything alone."

While Thalia was talking to Elizabeth, it was clear that she was referring to Danielle as well. The daughter of Zeus clearly remembered a certain magical Hunter almost sacrificing herself to stop a small army of skeletons a few years ago.

"Alright, we did a good job tonight girls. The Lincoln Tunnel can't be used by Kronos anymore, we didn't lose anyone, and only a few of us got any injuries worth noting. We need to find out where base is and report back so we can rest up for the next battle. This war isn't over yet girls."

They nodded and Thalia grabbed a cellphone from a sleeping mortal nearby and punched in the number for Annabeth's phone. When she didn't get anything, she tried a few others she knew.

"Right, so the campers are meeting at the Plaza Hotel near Central Park. We go there to rest for now and come up with a new plan. Let's move out!"

With a lot of grumbling, the Hunters all got up and trudged their way to the hotel, hoping that the campers had secured their own bridges and tunnels into the island of Manhattan.

The Plaza Hotel was not exactly the best place for a war headquarters. It wans't the most central location or even the most strategically placed, but it was stocked with food, beds, and a lot of other things that they did need so it would have to do for now. With Phoebe glaring at Elizabeth for almost the whole way, they made their way through the silent streets of New York, wanting to get to sleep or have their injuries checked out.

When they burst their way through the front doors, all they saw were a few demigods milling around the sleeping mortals, all were passed out in the lobby in expensive suits and dresses, and get ready for whatever they could think of that Kronos could throw at them next.

Campers were leery of them at first, the haters of men and all that, but soon learned that as long as they didn't bother them and left them alone, they would be safe. Most of the Hunters instantly went off to check into their own rooms of the hotel or get something to eat that a few Aphrodite and Demeter campers had prepared.

Not wanting to just sit around and do nothing, Danielle started healing various Hunters of their various injuries. Most had at least one cut or bruise from either a monster or an enemy demigod, while others had much more serious ailments. Danielle's knowledge of healing charms were coming in handy and she hadn't even resorted to using magic from her bracelet yet.

About half an hour later Danielle and Crystal had just finished healing a couple of Hunters that had been injured in the battle. Elizabeth looked tired from using so much fire against that tank but was using what power she had left to heal a camper or two. Thalia was raiding the various mini-fridges in the hotel, despite the fact that the Aphrodite and Demeter campers had used the large kitchen to make a small buffet.

That was when the doors burst open to reveal a couple of campers bringing in a heavily wounded Annabeth.

The daughter of Athena looked pale and her face was beaded with sweat. Her shirt was covered in blood.

Danielle took control immediately. "Put her here," she pointed to a lounge chair on the terrace. When Annabeth was lying on the chair, Danielle pulled out her wand and gave the injured girl a stabilizing charm as well as a pain numbing one.

Annabeth mumbled her thanks as she repositioned herself on the chair.

"No problem," said Danielle as she got to work. "Mind telling me what happened?" One of the daughters of Aphrodite was wiping Annabeth's head with a cool cloth.

Annabeth sighed. "An enemy demigod stabbed me when he was aiming for Percy."

"And you took the hit for him." It wasn't a question. Annabeth's wound looked bad, the skin around the cut looked green while the gash itself was pretty deep.

Danielle stopped the bleeding and was about to continue when the door burst open again to reveal Percy and a blond kid that was probably a son of Apollo.

Percy looked frantic as he pushed past Annabeth's brothers and sisters. Danielle had never seen Percy look so horrible, even though he didn't have a scratch on him. The Apollo kid quickly introduced himself as Will Solace and inspected the wound as well.

"Annabeth…" Percy choked up. He was probably feeling guilty that she had taken that attack for him.

"Poison on the dagger," Annabeth mumbled. "Pretty stupid of me, huh?"

Danielle interrupted. "I used a pain numbing charm so she's not in pain right now but it will wear off in half an hour. I also managed to staunch the bleeding and stopped the poison from spreading. I can't remove the poison itself though without special supplies though and we don't have any around."

Will nodded, "good. A few more minutes and we would've been in trouble. We still need to remove the poison and clean the wound though, which I can do. Somebody hand me some nectar."

Percy grabbed a canteen. With the numbing charm in place, Annabeth only felt half the pain she normally would have.

She still winced slightly and held Percy's hand as Will cleaned out the wound with the godly drink. Will nodded and started humming in Ancient Greek while Danielle chanted a few words in Latin. The wound closed and while it still looked fresh, was no longer life threatening.

"Whew," Will wiped some sweat from his face. "That was tough but it could have been worse. What kind of healing magic was that?"

Danielle shrugged, "turns out that Hecate created a lot of magicals in her time. I'm not her kid, but I can do most of the things her demigods can. And I've gotten good at healing spells."

Will nodded. "Makes as much sense as anything else I've seen. But we're going to need some mortal supplies."

He grabbed a piece of hotel stationery, jotted down some notes, and handed it to one of Annabeth's brothers. "There's a Duane Reade on Fifth. Normally I would never steal-"

"I would," a Hermes kid volunteered.

Will glared at him. "Leave cash or drachmas to pay, whatever you got, but this is an emergency. I've got a feeling we're going to have a lot more people to treat."

Danielle smiled, "I'm a pretty good healer and there are about two others in the Hunt so that should help."

All the campers looked better at that. There was hardly a single demigod who hadn't already been wounded in some way…except Percy for some reason.

"Come on guys," the Hermes camper from before said. "Let's give Annabeth some space. We've got a drugstore to raid…I mean, visit."

Everyone shuffled off back inside. Danielle went a room over and collapsed into a chair in the study off the living room while the others did their own thing. Thalia had apparently gotten tired of raiding the minibars and had heard about Annabeth being injured as she came right up to her, looking nervous.

"How is she?" she asked instantly.

Danielle looked at her calmly. Thalia might not have personal loyalty as a fatal flaw but she loved the daughter of Athena like a sister. That made Annabeth her own family as well.

"She's fine. I stabilized her and an Apollo camper and I were able to heal her fully. Remind me to thank Will Solace later."

It looked a weight had lifted from Thalia's shoulders. "Good, we've had a real history together and I want as many of my friends to survive this war as possible."

Danielle nodded. This war was just getting started and she would have to be at the top of her game.

"Any explanations of how Percy had no injuries?" she asked.

Thalia rolled her eyes, "that idiot decided to do something stupid. A camper told me he has the curse of Achilles." She sank into the seat next to her, her hand over her face.

Danielle frowned, "he's invincible. Well, there has to be a major downside to that. Not just his weak point."

Thalia smirked. "I sometimes forget you're not a demigod. You know so many of the stories."

Danielle shrugged, "the old stories fascinated me. How Achilles's mother dunked him into the River Styx by his ankle when he was a baby because she was so worried about his safety. Of course, he didn't have a happy ending. He accidentally killed the girl he loved as she was dying since he was such a blood lust. He also killed one of Apollo's kids so Apollo guided Paris's arrow right into Achilles's heel. He was still a great hero though."

Thalia shook her head. "How do you remember all of that is beyond me. Anyway, I also heard that Percy chased Kronos off again tonight at the Williamsburg Bridge." She sighed, "I wish he hadn't have done it."

Danielle knew who she was talking about and knew not to say anything. Luke allowing Kronos control of his body was a bit of a sore point with Thalia who still saw him as a brother. She knew that Luke must really hate the gods if he would allow the king of the Titans to take over. But she also remembered Thalia's story of how she and Luke had been the best of friends when they were younger. Thalia had fought Luke before and won, could she do it again?

A sudden bark got their attention and they looked outside the window. Right outside the hotel was Grover riding on the back of a huge hellhound. The hellhound was the size of a garbage truck and was trying to get Grover off so they could play.

Danielle looked at Thalia who only shrugged. Grover apparently got rid of the dog by pointing at some trees and the hellhound bounded for them, tail wagging happily.

When Grover came closer to the hotel, they saw that he was also dressed for battle. He was dressed in an armored shirt made from tree bark and twist ties, with his wooden cudgel and his reed pipes hanging from his belt.

Thalia looked at her. "Grover has news that would help. Come on, we should get a status update."

They grabbed Phoebe who was by the door and stepped into the living room to find Grover giving Percy a full report of what was going on.

"I swear Percy, we need to find someway to defeat the hellhounds that shadow travel in past our defenses. Dryads are fighting them off whenever they can but it's just not very effective. A dragon actually managed to slip under our guard and into Harlem and toasted some buildings before we found out it was there. It took about twenty satyrs and dryads to defeat it but it took out about a dozen of them first."

While Grover was talking, Thalia nodded to Percy before going into the other room to check on Annabeth for herself. She came back just as Grover was finishing up.

"We lost twenty satyrs against some giants at Fort Washington," his voice was trembling by now. "Almost half of my kinsmen. River spirits drowned the giants in the end, but…"

Thalia shouldered her bow. "Percy, Kronos's forces are still gathering at every bridge and tunnel. And Kronos isn't the only Titan. One of my Hunters spotted a huge man in golden armor mustering on the Jersey shore. I'm not sure who he is, but he radiates power like only a Titan or god."

"Great," said Percy. "Any good news?"

Thalia shrugged. "We've sealed off the subway tunnels into Manhattan. My best trappers took care of it. Also, it seems like the enemy is waiting for tonight to attack. I think Luke," - she caught herself, "I mean Kronos needs time to regenerate after each fight. He's still not comfortable with his new form. It's taking a lot of his power to slow time around the city."

Grover nodded. "Most of his forces are more powerful at night, too. But they'll be back after sundown."

Percy nodded, looking like he was holding the sky again. "Okay, any word from the other gods?"

Thalia shook her head. "I know Lady Artemis would be here if she could. Athena, too. But Zeus has ordered them to stay at his side. The last I heard, Typhon was destroying the Ohio River valley. He should reach the Appalachian Mountains by midday."

"So at best," said Percy. "We got another two days before he arrives."

A Hephaestus kid cleared his throat. He had been standing so quietly that it was the first time Danielle had noticed he was there.

"Percy, something else," he said. "The way Kronos showed up at the Williamsburg Bridge, like he knew you were going to be there. And he shifted his forces to our weakest points. As soon as we deployed, he changed tactics. He barely touched the Lincoln Tunnel, where the Hunters were strong. He went for our weakest spots, like he knew."

"Like he had inside information," said Percy. "The spy."

"What spy?" Thalia demanded.

Percy sighed. "When I was fighting Kronos on the Princess Andromeda cruise ship a few days ago, he had me pinned and frozen in time. He told me that he knew about the attack and showed me a bracelet with a scythe charm on it, telling me it was a communication device for his spy at camp."

Thalia grimaced, "that's bad. Very bad."

"It could be anyone," the Hephaestus kid said. "We were all standing there when Percy gave the orders."

"But what can we do?" Grover asked. "Frisk every demigod until we find a scythe charm?"

Danielle frowned, wishing she knew Legilimancy so she could find this spy. A summoning charm to find the charm wouldn't work either. It would most likely make the charm zoom into her hand without the person it belonged to.

"We keep fighting," Percy said, trying to be confident and the leader they needed him to be. "We can't obsess about this spy. If we're suspicious of each other, we'll just tear ourselves apart. You guys were awesome last night. I couldn't ask for a braver army. Let's set up a rotation for the watches. Rest up while you can. We've got a long night ahead of us."

The demigods all mumbled agreement. They went their separate ways to sleep, repair weapons or armor or to eat.

"Percy, you too," said Thalia. "We'll keep an eye on things. Go lie down. We need you in good shape for tonight."

Percy looked like he would argue, then nodded and headed off to find the nearest bedroom.

Thalia then rounded on Danielle. "Danielle, you really should rest as well. You've been using healing magic for a while. Tell Elizabeth to take a nap too. Phoebe and I will cover things."

The red headed Hunter sighed and went off to find a good place to sleep. She wasn't that tired but knew that she probably needed it. Who knew when she would get another chance?

Her dreams were disjointed, none of it making any sense. One moment she was sleeping, the next she was at Potter Manor where the inhabitants were looking for something. She didn't have enough time to think on it before the dream changed.

This new one had her in a dark room. The room was filled with people sitting at a long table, all wearing hoods so their faces couldn't be shown. He could make out that someone that looked vaguely like Draco Malfoy however, and two others that could be his parents. Even a woman that looked just like Bellatrix LeStrange was there, looking almost hungrily at the figure at the head of the table.

A woman in her thirties or forties was hovering upside down above the table, eyes closed and peaceful looking. The figure at the head of the table had pale white skin, no hair, slits for nostrils and commanded respect from the people around him. He was also petting a snake that was coiled around his chair. It was Voldemort.

She couldn't make out what they were talking about but the converstation ended with Voldemort casting a killing curse at the woman floating above the table. The huge snake slithering toward her, fangs posed, ready for its next meal.

Danielle woke up with a start, heart hammering as she tried to calm herself. What was that about? She hadn't had a dream about Voldemort in years. In fact, that was the only one she had had since she had joined the Hunt. Why would they come back?

_'Because Voldemort is getting stronger,'_ she thought. She shook off that thought. That was a whole ocean away, none of her business anymore. She had a war to deal with here and had to be focused on her goal of defending Olympus, her new home.

Walking into the bathroom, she gently nudged a timber wolf away from the toilet before splashing some water in her face. It wasn't a shower but it was better than nothing. Now she just had to find the other Hunters and find out what was going on.

Thalia met her right outside of the room she had crashed in. "Oh, good, your up. We have a small situation outside. It looks like the Titans want to negotiate and we need Percy."

"And you want me to come?" asked Danielle.

Thalia shrugged. "It looks like a Titan, a demigod, and two monsters are coming. I figured that we could use you, Percy, Me, and Grover. That would even the numbers at least in case a fight broke out."

Danielle nodded, "right, so let's get Percy and Grover."

They both walked into Percy's room where he was mumbling and thrashing in his sleep. Thalia sighed and started shaking him awake, throwing in a small shock of lightning for some extra power.

"Percy," Thalia said. "Come on. It's late afternoon. We've got visitors."

Percy sat up, looking disoriented. "Visitors?"

Thalia nodded grimly. "A Titan wants to see you, under a flag of truce. He has a message from Kronos."

XXXXX

Once outside, they could see the white flag half a mile away. It was as big as a soccer field, carried by a thirty-foot-tall giant with bright blue skin and icy gray hair.

"A Hyperborean," Thalia said. "The giants of the north. It's a bad sign that they sided with Kronos. They're usually peaceful."

"You've met them?" Percy asked.

"Mmm. There's a big colony in Alberta. You do not want to get into a snowball fight with those guys."

Danielle smirked as they walked closer to their 'guests.' "You would know about that, Thalia."

Thalia had accidentally fired an arrow at a Hyperborean the last time the Hunt was in Canada. The giant had not been pleased and had thrown a snowball the size of a house at her.

Thalia muttered something about giants being too sensitive for their own good but didn't say anything.

As the giant got closer, it was clear that three human-sized envoys with him: a half-blood in armor, an _empousa_ demon with a black dress and flaming hair, and a tall man in a tuxedo. The _empousa_ held the tux guy's arm, so they looked like a couple on their way to a Broadway show or something-except for her flaming hair and fangs.

The group walked leisurely toward the Heckscher Playground. The swings and ball courts were empty. The only sound was the fountain on Umpire Rock.

Percy looked at Grover. "The tux dude is the Titan?"

He nodded nervously. "He looks like a magician. I hate magicians. They usually have rabbits."

Percy stared at him. "You're scared of bunnies?"

"Blahh-hah-hah! They're big bullies. Always stealing celery from defenseless satyrs!"

Thalia coughed and Danielle thought that Elizabeth might like that fact. She still hated satyrs.

"What?" Grover demanded.

"We'll have to work on your bunny phobia later," Percy said. " Here they come."

The man in the tux stepped forward. He was taller than the average human-about seven feet. His black hair was tied in a ponytail. Dark round glasses covered his eyes, but what really caught their attention was his skin. It was covered in scratches, like he had been attacked by an animal.

"Percy Jackson," he said in a silky voice that reminded Danielle of Professor Snape. "It's a great honor."

His lady friend the _empousa_ hissed at Percy.

"My dear," tux guy said to her. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable over there, eh?"

She released his arm and drifted over to a park bench.

Danielle turned her attention on the demigod but couldn't recognize him. Then again, she didn't know a lot of them so it wasn't that surprising. He wore an eye patch under his helmet and his nose looked like a squashed tomato, like someone had recently punched him in the face.

"Hey Ethan," said Percy. "You're looking good."

Ethan glared at him.

"To business," Tux guy said. "I am Prometheus."

Percy looked surprised. "The fire-stealer guy? The chained-to-the-rock-with-the-vultures guy?"

Danielle glared at the Titan. "Not to mention the Titan of forethought, crafty council and all around jerk."

Prometheus had flinched at the mention of the vultures. "Please, don't mention the vultures. But yes, I am that Titan and I did steal fire from the gods and gave it your ancestors. In return, the ever merciful Zeus had me chained to a rock and tortured for all eternity."

"But-"

"How did I escape? Hercules did that, eons ago. So you see, I have a soft spot for heroes."

Danielle gave an unlady like snort. "Remind me to kill that son of Zeus turned minor god Thalia. Here's another reason to hate that male."

Thalia smirked and nodded.

Prometheus continued and looked at Percy. "Some of you can be quite civilized at least."

"Unlike the company you keep," Percy noticed.

He was looking at Ethan, but Prometheus apparently thought he meant the _empousa._

"Oh, demons aren't so bad," he said. "You have to keep them well fed. Now, Percy Jackson, let us parley."

He waved them over to a picnic table and he and Percy sat down. Thalia, Danielle, and Grover standing behind him.

The blue giant propped his flag against a tree and began absently playing on the playground. He stepped on the monkey bars and crushed them, but he didn't seem angry. He just frowned and said, "Uh-oh." Then he stepped in the fountain and broke the concrete bowl in half. "Uh-oh." The water froze where his foot touched it. A bunch of stuffed animals hung from his belt-the huge kind one would get for a grand prize at an arcade. He was just like a little kid and the thought of fighting him made Danielle a little sad.

Prometheus sat forward and laced his fingers. He looked as earnest, kindly, and wise as a certain old headmaster in a school in northern Scotland. "Percy, your position is weak. You know you can't stop another assault."

"We'll see."

Prometheus looked pained, like he really cared what happened to them. "Percy, as Danielle said, I'm the Titan of forethought. I know what's going to happen."

"And as crafty as any Slytherin," Danielle commented.

Prometheus shrugged while Percy and Grover tried to get the reference and failed. "True enough Hunter. But I supported the gods in the last war. I told Kronos: 'You don't have the strength. You'll lose.' And I was right. So you see, I know how to pick the winning side. This time, I'm backing Kronos."

"Because Zeus chained you to a rock," Percy guessed.

"Partly, yes. I won't deny I want revenge. But that's not the only reason I'm supporting Kronos. It's because it's the wisest choice. I'm here because I thought you might listen to reason."

He drew a map on the table with his finger. Wherever he touched, golden lines appeared, glowing on the concrete. "This is Manhattan. We have armies here, here, here, and here. We know your numbers, we outnumber you twenty to one."

"Your spy has kept you posted," Percy guessed.

Prometheus smiled apologetically. "At any rate, our forces are growing daily. Tonight, Kronos will attack. You will be overwhelmed. You've fought bravely, but there's no way you can hold all of Manhattan. You'll be forced to retreat to the Empire State Building. There you'll be destroyed. I have seen this. It will happen."

Danielle just stared at the Titan. While seerers could see little snippets of the future, it was never set in stone. Even magical oracles could be wrong. But Prometheus spoke with such certainty, it was hard not to believe him.

"I won't let that happen," Percy said.

Prometheus brushed a speck off of his tux lapel. "Understand, Percy, you are refighting the Trojan War here. Patterns repeat themselves in history. They reappear just as monsters do. A great siege. Two armies. The only difference is, this time you are defending. You are Troy. And you know what happened to the Trojans, don't you?"

"So you're going to cram a wooden horse into the elevator at the Empire State Building?" Percy asked. "Good luck."

Danielle smirked. "didn't the remnants of Troy move out of Greece and into Italy where they founded the village of what would become Rome? Somehow, I don't think that Kronos would allow us to create our own city if he wins."

Prometheus smiled. "Ah, but Troy was completely destroyed. You don't want that to happen here. Stand down, and New York will be spared. Your forces will be granted amnesty. I will personally assure your safety. Let Kronos take Olympus. Who cares? Typhon will destroy the gods anyway."

"Right," said Percy. "And I'm supposed to believe Kronos would spare the city."

"When Kronos ruled the last time," Danielle said. "Mortals were used as a cheap entertainment source. That was when they weren't slaves. You only stole fire under Zeus's rule because your punishment would be worse under Kronos. Kronos would level all of western civilization. Not just Manhattan."

"All he wants is Olympus," Prometheus promised, deciding to ignore what Danielle had just said. "The might of the gods is tied to their seats of power. Percy, you saw what happened to Poseidon once his undersea palace was attacked."

Percy winced, clearly not a good memory for him.

"Yes," Prometheus said sadly. "I know that was hard for you. When Kronos destroys Olympus, the gods will fade. They will be weak and would be easily defeated. Kronos would rather do this while Typhon has the Olympians distracted in the west Much easier, fewer lives lost. But make no mistake, the best you can do is slow us down. The day after tomorrow, Typhon arrives in New York, and you will have no chance at all. The gods and Mount Olympus will still be destroyed, but it will be much messier. Much, much worse for you and your city. Either way, the Titans will rule."

Thalia pounded her fist on the table. "I serve Artemis. The Hunters will fight to our last breath. Percy, you're not seriously going to listen to this slimeball, are you?"

Danielle knew that Titans and gods got angry easily so she figured Prometheus was going to blast her to dust, but he just smiled. "Your courage does you credit, Thalia Grace."

Thalia stiffened. "That's my mother's surname. I don't use it."

"As you wish," Prometheus said casually, but it was clear that he had gotten under her skin. Thalia had not had the greatest relationship with her mother when she ran away.

"At any rate," the Titan said, "you need not be my enemy. I have always been a helper of mankind."

"That's a load of Minotaur dung," Thalia said. "When mankind first sacrificed to the gods, you tricked them into giving you the biggest portion. You gave us fire to annoy the gods, not because you cared about us."

Prometheus shook his head. "You don't understand. I helped shape your nature."

A wiggling lump of clay appeared in his hands. He fashioned it into a little doll with arms and legs. The lump man didn't have any eyes, but it groped around the table, stumbling over Prometheus's fingers. "I have been whispering in man's ears since the beginning of your existence. I represent your curiosity, your sense of exploration, your inventiveness. Danielle has created enough spells to know." The mentioned Hunter continued to glare at him. "Help me save you, Percy. Do this, and I will give mankind a new gift-a new revelation that will move you as far forward as fire did. You can't make that kind of advance under the gods. They would never allow it. But this could be a new golden age for you. Or…" He made a fist and smashed the clay man into a pancake.

The blue giant rumbled. "Uh-oh." Over at the park bench, the _empousa_ bared her fangs in a smile.

"Percy, you know the Titans and their offspring are not all bad," Prometheus said. "You've met Calypso."

Danielle, Thalia and Grover stared at Percy. Percy's face turned red. "That's different."

"How? Much like me, she did nothing wrong, and yet she was exiled forever simply because she was Atlas's daughter. We are not your enemies. Don't let the worst happen," he pleaded. "We offer you peace."

Danielle couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. "Promeheus, you forgot that I was friends with another daughter of Atlas. Zoe told me that Calypso was exiled when she took full blame for her sister's actions in the last Titan war. The Hesperides, Merope, Calypso took all the blame to save them. She didn't have to but she did anyway."

Prometheus shrugged. "She may have sacrificed her freedom to help her sisters but that only proves my point that not all Titans are bad. Please accept this generous offer."

Percy looked over at Ethan. "You must hate this."

"I don't know what you mean."

"If I took this deal, you wouldn't get revenge. You wouldn't get to kill us all. Isn't that what you want?"

His good eye flared. "All I want is respect, Jackson. The gods never gave me that. You wanted me to go your stupid camp, spend my time crammed into the Hermes cabin because I'm not important? Not even recognized?"

That sounded eerily familiar to Danielle. She had been ignored because no one thought of her as important. She had found a way out though. She had joined the Hunt. But what if Zoe hadn't found her? What would she have done then? The question was scary to think about.

"Your mom's the goddess of revenge," Percy said to Ethan. "We should respect that?"

"Nemesis stands for balance! When people have too much good luck, she tears them down."

"Which is why she took your eye?"

"It was payment," he growled. "In exchange, she swore to me that one day I would tip the balance of power. I would bring the minor gods respect. An eye was a small price to pay."

"Great mom."

"At least she keeps her word, unlike the Olympians. She always pays her debts-good or evil."

"Yeah," Percy said. "So I saved your life, and you repayed me by raising Kronos. That's fair."

Ethan grabbed the hilt of his sword, but Prometheus stopped him.

"Now, now," the Titan said. "We're on a diplomatic mission."

Prometheus studied Percy, as if he was trying to understand his anger. Then he nodded as if he had plucked a thought from his brain.

"It bothers you what happened to Luke," he decided. "Hestia didn't show you the full story. Perhaps if you understood…"

The Titan reached out.

Thalia cried a warning and Danielle reached for her hunting knives but before Percy could react, Prometheus's index finger touched his forehead.

Percy froze and didn't move, he started sweating and his eyes glowed for a moment. It was over in an instant and Percy was back to normal as Prometheus pulled his hand away.

"Percy?" Thalia asked. "What…what was that?"

Percy shook himself slightly, shivering a little.

Prometheus nodded sympathetically.

"Apalling, isn't it? The gods know what is to come, and yet they do nothing, even for their children. How long did it take for them to tell you your prophecy, Percy Jackson? Don't you think your father knows what will happen to you?"

Percy was too stunned to answer.

"Perrrcy," Grover warned, "he's playing with your mind. Trying to make you angry."

Grover was a satyr and could read emotions, so he probably knew that Prometheus was succeeding.

"Do you really blame your friend Luke?" the Titan asked. "And what about you, Percy. Will you be controlled by your fate? Kronos offers a much better deal."

Percy clenched his fists. "I'll give you a deal. Tell Kronos to to call off his attack, leave Luke Castellan's body, and return to the pits of Tartarus. Then maybe I won't have to destroy him."

The _empousa_ snarled. Her hair erupted in fresh flames, but Prometheus just sighed.

"If you change your mind," he said, "I have a gift for you."

A Greek vase appeared on the table. It was about three feet tall and a foot wide, glazed with black-and-white geometric designs. The ceramic lid was fastened with a leather harness.

Grover whimpered when he saw it.

Danielle's eyes widened and made another reach for her knives, just in case.

Thalia gasped. "That's not-"

"Yes," Prometheus said. "You recognize it."

Looking at the jar, Danielle could almost feel the harsh and chaotic emotions coming off of it.

"This belonged to my sister-in-law," Prometheus explained, "Pandora."

Everyone gulped. "As in Pandora's box?" Percy asked.

Prometheus shook his head. "I don't know how this box business got started. It was never a box. It was a pithos, a storage jar. I suppose Pandora's pithos doesn't have the same ring to it, but never mind that. Yes, she did open this jar, which contained most of the demons that now haunt mankind-fear, death, hunger, sickness."

"Don't forget me," the _empousa_ purred.

"Indeed," Prometheus conceded. "The first _empusa_ was also trapped in this jar, released by Pandora. But what I find curious about the story-Pandora always gets the blame. She is punished for being curious. The gods would have you believe that this is the lesson: mankind should not explore. They should not ask questions. They should do what they are told. In truth, Percy, this jar was a trap designed by Zeus and the other gods. It was revenge on me and my entire family. My poor simple brother Epimetheus and his wife Pandora. The gods knew she would open the jar. They were willing to punish the entire race of humanity along with us."

Danielle thought of the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore. They were both focused on the big picture without caring about the little people who got in the way. Dumbledore moved people in his own Order of the Phoenix like chess pieces. The Ministry was so focused on keeping the magical world a secret, they cast the memory charm without caring about the long term victims of that spell. Were the gods any better? She mentally shook her head. The gods were young back then and did stupid things, not like the Ministry of Magic where many thought they were minor gods themselves.

Prometheus tapped the lid of Pandora's jar. "Only one spirit remained inside when Pandora opened it."

"Hope," Percy said.

Prometheus looked pleased. "Very good, Percy. Elpis, the spirit of Hope, would not abandon humanity. Hope does not leave without being given permission. She can only be released by a child of man."

The Titan slid the jar across the table.

"I give you this as a reminder of what the gods are like," he said. "Keep Elpis if you wish. But if you decide that you have seen enough destruction, enough futile suffering, then open the jar. Let Elpis go. Give up Hope, and I will know that you are surrendering. I promise Kronos will be lenient. He will spare the survivors."

Percy and the others stared at the jar with a very bad feeling. If Pandora had been as ADHD as Percy, than temptation wasn't a good thing.

"I don't want the thing," Percy growled.

"Too late," Prometheus said. "The gift is given. It cannot be taken back."

He stood. The _empousa_ came forward and slipped her arm through his.

"Danielle," said the Titan, staring at her. "Your own destiny is coming quickly as well. Your prophecy is rapidly approaching."

The red-headed Hunter frowned and glared at him. "And what prophecy would that be?" She was confused, she had a prophecy about her?

Prometheus smiled sadly. "The prophecy that created your fate. While not on the same level as this war, it is still important enough to have given you this life."

Danielle and the others just stared at him blankly.

Prometheus gently pried the _empousa's_ arm off his. "Perhaps if you knew."

Just like he had with Percy before, Prometheus acted too quickly for anyone to do anything and placed a finger on her forehead.

XXXXXX

Danielle was suddenly standing in what looked like a dingy room in some sort of Inn. The room was small and shabby, like it hadn't been cleaned since the last of the founders were around. There was a distinct smell of goats around the place. The only things of interest were the small bed, a desk that was about to collapse, and a wardrobe that had seen better days. The room was lit only by candles but by the amount of grime on the window, it could have been either day or night.

Just as she was wondering what was going on, she saw a woman sitting on the bed. Danielle thought she looked like an oversized dragonfly. Her large, thick glasses made her eyes appear several times larger than they actually were. She wore shawls and bangles over her body haphazardly and made it look like her whole body was falling apart.

She had never seen her before and was seriously considering just walking out that door to see what kind of stupid location that Titan had sent her when the door opened. She felt a surge of anger when she recognized him as Albus Dumbledore, there was no mistaking that silver beard. Sure, he looked younger than she remembered but not by much, he still had the wrinkles and that stupid twinkle in his eye.

The woman stood up from the bed and greeted Dumbledore. "Ah, headmaster, I knew you would come." It was like she was trying to make her voice seem as mysterious and mystic as possible but she just sounded flighty to Danielle. " I am Sybill Trelawney. Did you have any trouble finding me?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "no, I happen to be on excellent terms with the barman, who was able to tell me which room was yours. Now then, tell me why you would be fit for the position of Divination Professor at Hogwarts. I have to confess, I am reluctant for the class to continue personally."

Trelawney's eyes widened. "The art of fortune telling is an important thing to teach your students, headmaster. As the great-granddaugher of the fabled seer, Cassandra Trelawney, I would be perfect for the position."

"Really? I don't believe that any of your family has had the gift of sight since she had."

Trelawney started to sweat slightly. "I believe that these things skip, ah, three generations. In any case, I promise you that I see a great evil rising in your future."

Dumbledore didn't seem impressed. "My dear, with Voldemort rising, that is a given. If you have any real talent with the gift of sight, than please show me what you can do."

This started that Trelawney woman bringing out everything from a pack of cards to her crystal ball. Everything she said either seemed obvious or so outlandish that it could not possibly be true. Some things were pretty close though. Danielle raised an eyebrow when the woman stated that she had apparently seen an auburn haired twelve year old turn a man into a jackelope.

After about twenty minutes of this, Dumbledore apparently had had enough and stood up. "Well, Sybill, I would like to say that this was an illuminating experience. I will have the results ready by tomorrow and will contact you then."

This was apparently Dumbledore's idea of letting her down gently. There was no way that this woman would actually get the job of teaching at Hogwarts.

Just as the elderly headmaster was turning to go, Trelawney suddenly went rigid, almost falling off of her seat and knocking the crystal ball over onto the floor where it shattered. Dumbledore and Danielle watched as Trelawney said in a raspy voice, "the Dark Lord, the Dark Lord."

This was not her faking it, Danielle was positive. She realized that this woman was an oracle, not a seer. A seer constantly gets small bits and visions of possible versions of the future. An oracle has prophecies when something important is about to happen that could alter the course of history. Apollo's oracle was never wrong and was always right, but Hecate's magical oracles only gave a possible future, it wasn't set in stone.

In that same raspy voice that sounded like two or three people talking at once. She stumbled toward Dumbledore. _"The one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord approaches…born to parents who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord shall mark them as his equal-"_

At that moment, Dumbledore turned around and saw that a man was standing right behind the door. With a bang of his wand, the man turned and ran. Danielle glared, she knew that man before he had vanished. It was her old Potions Professor, it was Severus Snape.

Trelawney continued, as if she hadn't even noticed that she had been interrupted.

_"-But they will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hands of the other, as neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"_

When the prophecy was over, Trelawney slumped against her seat. She made a few grunting noises and opened her eyes, looking around confused.

"Oh, er, my apologies headmaster, I must have missed my last meal in my eagerness to meet you."

Dumbledore looked at her curiously, his eyes no longer twinkling. Finally, he gave an obviously fake smile. "No, my dear, it is quite understandable. Perhaps you do have a position at Hogwarts after all."

The vision changed. Danielle watched as the room vanished along with Tralawney and Dumbledore. She was stunned, there was a prophecy about her. The only thing that made it slightly better was that it was only a magical prophecy, it could be false unlike Apollo's oracle.

When everything came back, she was standing on top of a hilltop. Wind whistled and made everything that much creepier as it moved the leafless trees. Professor Snape came running up the hill, clearly worried that he had been followed. He was turning on the spot when he got to the top, his hand on his wand, almost like he was waiting for someone he didn't want to find him to come.

A blinding flash of white light flew through the air. It looked like lightning but Snape came out unscathed, his wand had flown out of his hand.

"Don't kill me!"

"That was not my intention."

Dumbledore apparated in with hardly a sound, though the wind would have been drowned the sound anyway. He stood before Snape, his robes billowing around him, his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand.

"Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"

"No-no message-I'm here on my own account!"

Snape was wringing his hands: He looked slightly mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.

"I-I come with a warning-no a request-please-."

Dumbledore flicked his wand. The wind still blew the branches and the leaves still attached to them but all sound vanished, sealing them both in their own little bubble.

"What request could a Death Eater make of me?"

"The-the prophecy…the prediction…Trelawney…"

"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore. "How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"

"Everything-everything I heard!" said Snape. "That is why-it is for that reason-he thinks it means Lily Evans!"

Danielle's eyes widened. The way Snape said her mother's name…it was the tone one would use to talk about an old love. Sure, she knew that the Potions Professor had been friends with her mother, Lily had told James and David that much, but she hadn't known his feelings for her were that strong.

"The prophecy did not refer to a woman," said Dumbledore. "It spoke of a child born at the end of July-"

"You know what I mean! He thinks it means one of her children. Either her son or daughter. He is going to hunt her down-kill them all-"

"If she means so much to you," said Dumbledore, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for her children?"

"I have-I have asked them-"

"You disgust me," said Dumbledore, contempt was fully evident in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little. "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband or her children? They can die, as long as you have what you want?"

Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.

"Hide them all, then," he croaked. "Keep her-them-safe. Please."

"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"

"In-in return?" Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Danielle was sure he was about to protest, but after a long moment he said, "Anything."

XXXX

When everything came into focus again, Danielle was back with Thalia, Percy, and Grover. Prometheus was pulling back his hand.

"Strange, isn't it?" asked the Titan. "How a simple flip of a coin could alter the course of one's life."

Danielle was trying to shake the sudden bout of cobwebs that had invaded her brain. The fact that there was a prophecy out there that could have either been for her or her brother didn't matter right now. She had an army of monsters to crush.

"Personally, I'd let your world be destroyed," Prometheus continued calmly, like he was commenting on the weather. "Magical Britain is stagnant. They refuse to change, refuse to adapt to the twenty-first century. Much like the gods, they are corrupt and only know who to replay the past. Once Kronos is done here, he might move onto the magical world. Is that truly that bad?"

Danielle shook her head again and growled, knowing that the others were wondering what they were talking about.

"I won't destroy that world, Titan," she snarled at him, angry that he had invaded her mind. "We have an army to deal with first. Magical Britain is as far from my mind as possible."

She did want to punch Dumbledore right in his wrinkly face, but she had to focus on more important things right now.

Prometheus seemed to know what she was thinking but decided to leave her for the moment. His 'peaceful' talk was about to turn into anything but.

"Morrain!" he shouted to the blue giant. "We are leaving. Get your flag."

"Uh-oh," the giant said.

"We will see you soon, Percy Jackson. Danielle the Hunter." Prometheus promised. "One way or another."

Ethan gave Percy one last hateful look. Then the truce party truned and strolled up the lane through Central Park, like it was just a regular sunny Sunday afternoon.

XXXXX

The entire way back to the plaza, Thalia and Grover were giving their other two companions an odd look. Almost as soon as they got back to the hotel, Thalia pulled Percy to the side. "What did Prometheus show you?"

Danielle and Grover became interested as well. Reluctantly, Percy explained.

"He showed me May Castellan's house the night Luke spoke to Hermes. The time when you were injured. Prometheus showed that Hermes knew what was going to happen to his son but didn't do anything to stop it."

Thalia rubbed her thigh, like she was remembering the old wound. "That was a bad night," she admitted. "Annabeth was so little, I don't think she really understood what she saw. She just knew that Luke was upset."

Percy looked out the hotel windows at Central Park. Small fires were still burning in the north, but otherwise the city seemed unnaturally peaceful. "Do you know what happened to May Castellan? I mean-"

"I know what you mean," Thalia said. "I never saw her have an, um, episode, but Luke told me about the glowing eyes, the strange things she would say. He made me promise never to tell. What caused it, I have no idea. If Luke knew, he never told me."

"Hermes knew," Percy said. "Something caused May to see parts of Luke's future, and Hermes understood what would happen-how Luke would turn into Kronos."

Thalia frowned. "You can't be sure of that. Remember Prometheus was manipulating what you saw, Percy, showing you what happened in the worst possible light. Hermes did love Luke. I could tell just by looking at his face. And Hermes was there that night because he was checking up on May, taking care of her. He wasn't all bad."

"It's still not right," Percy insisted. "Luke was just a little kid. Hermes never helped him, never stopped him from running away."

"And Zeus never stopped Thlaia and Athena didn't stop Annabeth," Danielle snapped. She was still trying to sort out those images she had seen and Percy whining was not helping. "Percy, gods are bound by the Ancient Laws, you know that. They can't interact with their mortal kids as much as they would like. Do you really think that Hermes wouldn't spend time with Luke if given the chance?"

Percy shook his head, no doubt feeling a little foolish for not considering that.

"Percy," said Thalia, "you can't start feeling sorry for Luke. We all have tough things to deal with. All demigods, and some mortals, do. Our parents are hardly ever around. But Luke made some bad choices. Nobody forced him to do that. In fact-"

She glanced down the hall to make sure they were still alone. "I'm worried about Annabeth. If she has to face Luke in battle, I don't know if she can do it. She's always had a soft spot for him."

Percy flushed red. "She'll do fine."

"I don't know. After that night, after we left his mom's house? Luke was never the same." She told Percy what she had told Danielle a few years ago. How Luke had gotten reckless, picking fights, and generally slowing them down on their way to camp. "All I'm saying…don't you fall into the same trap. Luke has given himself to Kronos now. We can't afford to be soft on him."

Percy looked at the fires in Harlem.

"You're right," said Percy.

Thalia patted his shoulder. "I'm going to check on the Hunters, then get some more sleep before nightfall. You should crash too."

"The last thing I need is more dreams."

"I know, believe me." Her dark expression was clear that she was not getting a lot of rest from sleep. That was the problem with demigod dreams: the more dangerous the situation became, the worse and more frequent the dreams got. "But Percy, there's no telling when you'll get another chance for rest. It's going to be a long night-maybe our last night."

Percy nodded wearily and gave her Pandora's jar. "Do me a favor. Lock this in the hotel vault, will you? I think I'm allergic to pithos."

Thalia smiled. "You got it."

As Percy left to find a bed and Thalia went off to the vault, Danielle found herself alone for the moment. Grover must have left as soon as he had seen Percy was in safe hands. Shaking her head, she went off to sleep as well, feeling that she would need it.

Perhaps it had been the fact she had lived with demigods and a goddess for so long, maybe it had to something to do with those visions Prometheus had shown her. Whatever the reason, Danielle did not sleep as well as she had hoped she would.

Danielle wasn't in New York anymore. She wasn't even in America. The first thing she noticed was she was taller, over six feet, the second was that she was male.

While a horrifying thought for anyone, she somehow wasn't scared, but focused. A deadly enemy was coming and she had to protect the king and his kingdom at all costs.

Taking a look of her surroundings, she was standing on top of a huge hill, grass covering everything. Somehow knowing she was in England, she stroked her beard and held her staff tighter. The foe was approaching.

"Mydrinn!"

Turning, she saw a raven haired beauty of a woman that had to be at least half her age. She was wearing a midnight blue dress, a wand up her sleave, and a small necklace around her neck that was studded with various gems.

"Mydrinn, you must not fight Mordred alone," she said. She sounded worried. "Arthur will understand if you need assistance."

Danielle took a deep breath. "Morganna, you have been my apprentice for a long time. You have learned much and for that I am proud to be your teacher. This foe however, he has caused to much damage. It is for the best if I meet him myself, and alone."

Placing a hand on the woman's shoulder, she got the point and left with a few backward glances. Danielle didn't want her to leave but it was better this way. Fewer distractions to have to deal with. She watched as her foe appeared on horseback a few minutes later. Mordred was a cruel looking man with his face in a determined sneer. He pulled out his staff, his sword at his side.

"Mydrinn Emrys," he said as he jumped off his horse. "You are a fool to face me by yourself. Tell your mighty king that Camelot falls today. I am immortal, my reign will last forever!"

Danielle frowned as she got out her own staff, it was covered in runes she had carefully made herself over the decades. "No one is above the laws of death, the gods will not allow it. Surrender, or your afterlife will be filled with eternal torment."

Mordred didn't say anything but started the fight by sending a huge bolt of pure magic at Danielle, which she deflected with a well placed shield. She countered by slamming her staff into the ground and threw the rocks at him, only for him to jump out of the way.

The fight continued for hours, neither side giving in. Mordred was powerful and proved it when she shattered his staff into pieces, only for him to rise his sword and activate a rune inscribed onto the blade making it burst into flames.

Danielle frowned as the fight continued. Since when had Mordred gotten so good? She suddenly realized what the problem was. Throughout the fight, she thought that something had seemed off about him. Mage Sight showed that Mordred's soul was only at half power, with the other half stashed in some secret location.

She growled at the man that was trying to cut her in half with a flame sword. "Tell me! What made you think of a soul anchor? What kind of monsterous kind of magic have you done?"

Mordred laughed as he continued to try and hack and slash his opponent. "I have transcended normal magics old man! I am immortal! I cannot die and I cannot be defeated!"

Mordred was strong, but she was Mydrinn Emyrs, council for the high King Arthur of Camelot. Slamming her staff against the ground again, she channeled magic into the earth itself, creating huge hands made of stone that quickly bound the angry man. While he was struggling, she pointed her staff at him and a white hot bolt of lightning tore the rest of his soul from his body.

Defeated for now, Mordred in spirit form flew off after failing to possess her. She sighed, she would have to destroy the soul anchor before he would truly die.

XXXXX

Danielle woke with a start, back in the bed she had fallen asleep in back in Manhattan. What the heck was that dream? How did she become Merlin of all people? Breathing heavily, she looked around the room and nothing appeared out of place from before.

Something got her attention out of the corner of her eye and she looked around but there was nothing there. She frowned, she could have sworn she had seen a pure black feather right there.

She tried to piece together the dream but nothing came out of it. Now that she was awake, the details were trickling out of her memory. Soul anchors? Was that it? What were they?

Taking a deep breath, she quickly got out of the bed and into the bathroom where she splashed some water in her face. Not a shower but it would have to do for now. Grabbing her supplies, she almost ran into Elizabeth right outside of her door.

She smiled, "good to see you up. It took awhile to finally wake you." Her expression grew serious, "Thalia wants us in Central Park. The battle there is about to start."

Danielle nodded and left with her friend, wanting to get these thoughts of Merlin out of her mind. She needed a good target to shoot an arrow through and a huge battle was perfect.

**And we are done with that chapter. Sorry but this is as far as I've gotten in this story and who knows when the next one will come out. So, read, review, and all that good stuff and don't forget to tell me what you think so far. I'll probably separate The Last Olympian into two more chapters but who knows, I don't, that's for sure.**

**Thank you for reading and until next time.**


	6. The last Olympian Part two

**And here is another chapter! Dudes, I know you guys like my writing (I've gotten reviews on almost nothing else) but I'm trying to improve here. I can't do that if you don't tell me if I'm doing something wrong. I need brutal honesty, people!**

**Anyway, sorry about the later chapter than usual but I actually needed to write it out, instead of having it written for weeks in advance.**

**I don't own anything. Just tell me what you think.**

Thalia, the Hunters and the head counselors of camp Half-Blood were waiting for them at the reservoir near Central Park. The lights of the city were blinking on in the twilight; they must have been on automatic timers. Streetlamps glowed around the shore of the lake, making the water and trees even spookier.

Thalia nodded to them as they approached. "Good, you're here. I got Holly scouting ahead. I want to know what we're up against." Elizabeth nodded and went to join the other Hunters. Danielle was about to as well when Thalia touched her shoulder.

"Uh, look. I know this might be a bad time with the upcoming battle but I want to know. What did Prometheus show you?"

Danielle wasn't surprised that Thalia hadn't brought it up earlier. They were in the middle of a war everyone had a lot on their minds.

She shook her head. "Nothing to do with anything right now. When Kronos is defeated, I promise."

Thalia looked concerned but didn't say anything as Holly came back. She was panting slightly and looked worried.

"Thalia, the army just crossed the Harlem River. The enemy…we must be outnumbered twenty to one. Even worse is that Titan from before is leading the attack."

The daughter of Zeus paled but looked determined not to show it. "Good job. Get ready with the others. I have the feeling that this is going to be a long night."

Holly nodded and left. Danielle was about to follow, again, but was cut off when Percy and Annabeth showed up with Grover.

Thalia wasted no time in telling the son of Poseidon everything that Holly just told her.

Percy looked grim but nodded. "We'll hold them at the park." He looked at his satyr friend. "Grover, you ready?"

He nodded. "As ready as we'll ever be. If my nature spirits can stop them anywhere, this is the place."

"Yes, we will!" Said another voice. A very old, fat satyr pushed his way through the crowd, stumbling over his own spear. He was dressed in wood-bark armor that only covered half of his belly.

"Leneus?" asked Percy.

"Don't act so surprised," he huffed. "I _am_ a leader of the council, and you _did_ tell me to find Grover. Well, I found him, and I'm not going to let a mere outcast lead the satyrs without my help!"

Danielle raised an eyebrow but squashed the numerous questions she had. Behind Leneus's back, Grover made gagging motions, but the old satyr grinned like he was the savior of the day. "Never fear! We'll show those Titans!"

Somehow, someway, Percy was able to keep a straight face. "Um…yeah. Well, Grover, you won't be alone. Annabeth and the Athena cabin will make their stand here. And me, and…Thalia?"

Thalia patted Percy on the shoulder. "Say no more. The Hunters are ready."

Danielle nodded, grinning. "Those monsters won't know what hit them."

Percy looked at the other camp counselors. "That leaves the rest of you with a job just as important. You have to guard the other entrances into Manhattan. You know how tricky Kronos is. He'll hope to distract us with this small army and sneak another force in somewhere else. It's up to you to make sure that doesn't happen. Has each cabin chosen a bridge or tunnel?"

The counselors nodded grimly.

"Then let's do it," Percy said. "Good hunting everybody!"

XXXXX

In no time, most of the Hunters were in the trees around the reservoir. Bows out and ready to fire. The campers like Percy and Annabeth were on the ground with swords, knives, and spears along with a few grappling hooks courtesy of the Athena cabin.

They heard the army before they saw it.

The noise was like a cannon barrage combined with a Quidditch stadium crowed-like every Puddlemere United fan in Britain were charging them with bazookas.

At the north end of the reservoir, the enemy vanguard broke through the woods-a warrior in golden armor leading a battalion of Laistrygonian giants with bronze axes. Hundreds of other monsters poured out behind them.

"Positions!" Annabeth yelled.

Her cabin mates scrambled. The idea was to make the enemy break around the reservoir. To get to them, they'd have to follow the trails, which meant they'd have to march in narrow columns on either side of the water.

At first, the plan seemed to work. The enemy divided and streamed toward them along the shore. When they were halfway across, the defenses kicked in. The jogging trail erupted in Greek fire, incinerating many of the monsters instantly. Others flailed around, engulfed in green flames. Athena campers threw grappling hooks around the largest giants and pulled them to the ground.

In the woods on the right hand side, Hunters shot a volley of silver arrows into the enemy line, destroying twenty or thirty dracaenae, but more marched behind them. Thalia gave the signal and shot a bolt of lightning out of the sky and fried a Laistrygonian giant to ashes. Now fully rested, Elizabeth conjured a fireball and smashed through a line of dracaenae.

Grover raised his pipes and played a quick tune. A roar went up from the woods on both sides, as every tree, rock, and bush seemed to sprout a spirit. Dryads and satyrs raised their clubs and charged. The trees wrapped around the monsters, strangling them. Grass grew around the feet of the enemy archers. Stones flew up and hit dracaenae in the faces.

The enemy slogged forward. Giants smashed through the trees, and dryads faded as their life sources were destroyed. Hellhounds lunged at the timber wolves, knocking them aside. Enemy archers returned fire and a Hunter fell from a high branch.

It was just the kind of battle that Danielle needed to get her mind off of Prometheus. Shooting arrow after arrow at the monsters, the enemy eventually got too close to their lines. Jumping down, she pulled out her knives and got to work. Thalia and Phoebe, two the Hunt's best close combat specialists, were right next to her. Thalia stabbing monsters with her spear and defending with Aegis flawlessly while Phoebe was busy slashing away with her knives.

"Just like old times, huh?" Phoebe shouted over the battle as she decapitated another giant.

Danielle smirked as she conjured a throwing knife and impaled the head of an enemy archer. "Oh I don't know. I think we need a drakon or two to really liven this place up!"

Phoebe laughed as she put away her knives and pulled out her sword before ducking under a hellhound, cutting it off at its kneecaps.

Danielle was on autopilot, her mind focused entirely on the combat around her. She was only vaguely aware of the people around her as she hacked and slashed. At one point she lost one of her knives in the battle so she brought out her wand and used the same light sword spell she had used against Atlas.

The burning light of the glowing bluish-white blade seemed to be as effective against monsters as Celestrial bronze so she kept it up.

Unfortunately, she was so preoccupied with the battle; she didn't see a giant sneak up on her. She did however get to see the large club the giant used to send her flying a moment too late.

Sailing through the air, she flew about a hundred yards and hit the ground near the reservoir. Groaning in pain, she did a mental check list on herself and found that other than a broken arm when the club had smashed into it, nothing else seemed to be serious other than some cuts and bruises.

Using her good arm, she pushed herself to her feet and looked around. Most of the monsters were closer to the tree line than the reservoir itself. There was a good reason for that since Percy was fighting the Titan in golden armor on top of the water.

A growl got her attention and she saw the giant that had attacked her was coming right at her, looking to finish the job. Luckily, her wand was still intact, which was about five feet away from her, not good with a giant running at her with a club.

Focusing, knowing that panicking wouldn't help her, she concentrated on using the magic in her bracelet. When the giant was about twenty meters away from her, she conjured and fired a spear made of ice that was shot straight through the giant's chest. The giant took enough time to look surprised before turning to dust, the ice spear vanishing with it.

Sighing in relief, she picked up her wand and sued a Madam Pomfrey special, healing her broken arm in about a second. Wincing in pain from setting her arm before healing it, she saw that Percy's battle against the Titan wasn't going as well as it could be.

"You will burn, Jackson!" Percy had apparently just forced the water around him into a huge tidal wave and had soaked the Titan, but he still looked murderously at the son of Poseidon.

Percy and the Titan's swords clashed and the air charged with ozone.

The battle still raged on. A little way from Danielle, Annabeth was leading an assault with her siblings. On the other side of the reservoir, Grover and his nature spirits were regrouping, entangling the enemies with bushes and weeds.

"Enough games," the Titan yelled at Percy. "We fight on land."

Danielle was torn. Did she help Percy with the Titan or the others against the monsters?

Making a split second decision, she remembered her dream of Merlin and decided to try something similar. Normally, trying new spells or new kinds of magic without knowing if it was possible or the drain on the caster's magical core was dangerous. This was a dangerous situation however.

Harnessing the power in her bracelet and her core combined, she channeled magic from her wand into the water of the reservoir, hoping that her plan would work.

XXXXX

Percy had been fighting Hyperion on top of the water for a few minutes and while he had the curse of Achilles, the Titan was tough. The Titan of the East had been bearing down on him since the fight began, blasting him with light, running at him on top of the water, and was now planning on sending him flying through the air; just like Kronos had done on the Williamsburg Bridge.

The son of Poseidon was about to prepare for launch as the Titan was preparing for an energy wave attack when his hand was suddenly jerked back. Percy watched, confused, as what looked like a rope made of water had apparently grabbed Hyperion's hand and was pinning him to the water's surface.

"What is this?" yelled Hyperion, sounding angrier than ever, glaring hatefully at Percy. "Your water tricks won't save you!"

Percy was pretty sure he had nothing to do with the water rope when another lashed around Hyperion's other arm and held him down. The Titan of light tried to evaporate the water with his powers but they wouldn't budge. An even larger water rope, larger than the other two, rose from the water's surface and wrapped around his torso, forcing him into a kneeling position.

Completely confused, Percy looked around and saw Danielle standing on the shore of the reservoir, looking exhausted, with her wand on the Titan. Realizing that it was some sort of water magic, and knowing that she didn't have long before she collapsed, Percy used the distraction and brought out Riptide on the Titan.

Hyperion was having a hard fight as he was forcibly being held down as the son of Poseidon was hacking away at his armor with his sword. He had no idea how the sea brat was doing this as he didn't think he had this kind of control over water. Controlling his anger, he managed to block a few of Jackson's slashes with his own sword but knew he had to do something soon before he was completely out for the count.

Neither Danielle nor Percy saw Hyperion's move coming but the Titan used pure brute strength to break the water ropes. Danielle was stunned as she almost collapsed, somehow the Titan had been able to stand and break the ropes. The only consolation prize was that it seemed that he had exhausted most of his light powers in doing so.

While the Titan was free, Percy had the upper hand and all the power. While the son of Poseidon didn't know it, he had somehow managed to make himself be the center of his own personal hurricane. The wind had been almost as damaging to Hyperion as his sword strikes had been.

Lightning flickered around him. The clouds darkened and the rain swirled faster. Percy moved faster than he had ever moved before and closed in with amazing speed before sending the Titan flying, completely off his feet.

Hyperion, still weak from the other attacks and from breaking the water ropes, could only stand as Percy readied his next charge.

"Percy!" Grover called out. "Bring him over here!"

Percy seemed to have let his instincts take over. Hyperion could barely defend himself. His eyes kept trying to ignite but the storm put them out just as quickly. Using the storm winds, he propelled the Titan across the reservoir and the field, straight to where Grover was waiting.

"I will not be toyed with!" Hyperion yelled.

He somehow managed to get to his feet again, but Grover put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play. Leneus joined him. Around the grove, every satyr took up the song-an eerie melody, like a creek flowing over stones. The ground erupted at Hyperion's feet. Gnarled roots wrapped around his legs.

"What's this?" he protested. He tried to shake off the roots, but he was still weak. The roots thickened until he looked like he was wearing wooden boots.

"Stop this!" he shouted. "Your woodland magic is no match for a Titan!"

But the more he struggled, the faster the roots grew. They curled about his body, thickening and hardening into bark. His golden armor melted into the wood, becoming part of a large tree trunk.

The music continued. Hyperion's forces backed up in astonishment as their leader was absorbed. He stretched out his arms and they became branches, from which smaller branches shot out and grew leaves. The tree grew taller and thicker, until only Hyperion's face could be seen in the middle of the trunk.

"You cannot imprison me!" he bellowed. "I am Hyperion! I am-"

The bark closed over his face.

Grover took his reed pipes from his mouth. "You are a very nice maple tree."

Several of the other satyrs passed out from exhaustion, but they'd done their job well. The Titan lord was completely encased in an enormous maple. The trunk was at least twenty feet in diameter, with branches as tall as any in the park. The tree might have stood there for centuries.

Danielle was being helped up by Thalia and Elizabeth on the other side of the reservoir from the maple tree. Everyone was cheering as the enemy forces were retreating.

"Fancy trick with the water," Thalia commented, as Elizabeth looked her over. The fire of the hearth could heal as well as injure and the dryad daughter of Hermes was filling Danielle with new energy with the healing flames.

Danielle smiled weakly. That little stunt with the water, like with most elemental magic, was magically draining. The amount of magic in her bracelet was only just barely able to cover it.

"Don't count on things like that often," said the red headed Hunter as she felt energy come back to her. "I almost passed out from channeling that much magic."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Just don't use much magic for the rest of the day and I think you'll be fine." She herself looked tired from using her own powers but they couldn't afford to rest now, there were still things to be done.

One of those things came to be known a few moments later.

"REEEET!"

The squeal echoed through upper Manhattan. Demigods, Hunters, and monsters alike froze in terror.

Thalia's eyes widened in horror, "no. Not that monster…"

Danielle didn't know if Thalia was thinking about what she herself was, but she was thinking of that huge boar that Pan had 'blessed' them with about a year and a half ago.

Good times, good times.

This squeal was similar, but it sounded shriller, almost like…like if the boar had a very angry girlfriend.

"REEEET!" A huge pink creature soared over the reservoir. A creature that was the size of a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.

"A sow!" She heard Annabeth yell. "Take cover!"

The demigods and Hunters scattered as the winged lady pig swooped down. Her wings were pink like a flamingo's, which matched with her skin beautifully, but it was hard to think of her as cute when her hooves slammed into the ground, barely missing one of Annabeth's siblings. The pig stomped around and tore down half an acre of trees, belching a cloud of noxious gas. Then it took off again, circling around or another strike.

"You've got to be kidding!" Danielle almost yelled. "The Clazmonian Sow? Really?" As far as she knew, nobody had ever managed to defeat this thing. It terrorized ancient Greek cities back in the day and the best heroes had managed to do against it had been to drive it off.

"I suppose with fire and lightning, we might be able to beat it," Elizabeth suggested to Thalia. Danielle was temporarily out of commission from all the magic she had used and wasn't up to be fighting against something this big. Besides, there were still tons of other monsters.

Thalia looked around. The Titan's army was recovering from its shock. They must have realized that the winged pig lady was on their side. Campers were still in a panic. The remaining Hunters that were up for continuing the fight were shooting arrows at the sow but it wasn't doing anything against an enemy that huge. That, and they had to deal with the army.

"We have to focus on the army," Thalia decided. "As tough as that pig is, Percy or someone else will have to deal with it. We can't let Kronos's forces any deeper into Manhattan. Danielle, how much magic do you have left?"

Danielle wasn't feeling perfect but better than before. "I still have all the magic in my magical core but my bracelet is almost empty. I have enough for maybe one more spell there and then I'll be running on reserves."

Thalia nodded. "Figures, we just have to focus on the army."

She was cut off however when she looked on the other side of the reservoir and saw Percy, grabbing a grappling hook from an Athena camper, and hooking it around one of the sow's wings as it flew by, Percy following into the sky.

"Well, that settles that," said the daughter of Zeus. "Now, the army, let's go!"

Danielle sighed and prepped herself for battle again. Pulling out her remaining knife, she used a minor duplication charm on it so she had a temporary second one. She then charged at the army with the rest of her sisters.

About half an hour after Percy left, Danielle and the rest of the Hunters and demigods were still fighting. The Hunters had set up a defensive line on 37th, three blocks away north of Olympus. To the east on Park Avenue, the Hephaestus campers were leading an army of statues against the enemy. To the west, the Demeter cabin and Grover's nature spirits had turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a squadron of Kronos's demigods. The south was clear for now, but the flanks of the enemy army were swinging around.

Even though she was completely exhausted, magically, mentally and physically, Danielle had no choice but to continue. Thalia was still going, tired but determined, and was holding off the enemy with her shield and lightning. She wasn't sure about the others but it wasn't the time. It was kill or be killed.

Danielle was a survivor, both in Britain and with the Hunt. She was ready to get even, not mad, when she saw a wounded Hunter in the streets. It was bad enough that they had been forced out of Central Park, now they didn't even have the advantage of terrain anymore.

Artemis was the goddess of the Hunt, not city streets.

The redheaded Hunter had been fighting monster after monster for what felt like hours but more just kept coming. For every one she took out, more took their place. As the night wore on and the moon got higher, they were backed up foot by foot until they were only a block away from the Empire State Building in any direction.

At one point, Thalia was fighting beside her, driving monsters away with her shield. Then she disappeared into the crowed and Claire was next to her, her sword and knife combo lethal against various snake women. Then she, too, was gone only to be replaced by Percy who was taking out dozens of monsters with every strike. Knowing about Annabeth's invisibility hat, whenever a monster disintegrated for no apparent reason with a surprised look on its face, she knew the daughter of Athena had been there.

But it still wasn't enough.

"Hold your lines!" a Demeter girl shouted, somewhere off to Danielle's right.

The problem was that there were far too few demigods and Hunters to hold anything. As it was, Danielle was just barely able to defend the doors to Olympus with the army getting closer all the time.

Behind the enemy troops, a few blocks to the east, a bright light began to shine. At first, it looked like the sunrise. Than Danielle realized it was a golden chariot. A dozen Laistrygonian giants were bearing torches before the figure in the chariot. The figure was a blond haired guy in his early twenties with a scar over one of his eyes. It was Kronos in Luke Castellan's body. Two Hyperborian giants carried his black and purple banners. The Titan lord looked fresh and rested, his powers at full strength. He took his time advancing, letting them wear themselves down.

Danielle wasn't sure how much of this she was willing to take. She had been fighting for hours and was reaching her limit. She wasn't Percy, who looked like he could take on entire armies without breaking a sweat. She wasn't even Thalia, who was determined to keep going until she fainted from exhaustion or was killed, whichever came first.

She readied her remaining hunting knife, the old having vanished a while ago, to die fighting when she heard a hunting horn.

It cut through the noise of the battle like a fire alarm. A chorus of horns answered from all around them, echoing off the buildings of Manhattan.

Glancing at a few other Hunters near her, it was clear that they were a surprised as she was. All of the Hunters were accounted for.

The horns got louder. Because of all the echoes, it was impossible to tell where they were coming from, but it sounded like a huge army was approaching.

If it weren't for Kronos's forces looking as confused as they were, they would have been worried about more enemies. Giants lowered their clubs. Dracaenae hissed. Even Kronos's honor guard looked uneasy.

Then, to the left, a hundred monsters cried out at once. Kronos's entire northern flank surged forward. Everyone tensed but they didn't attack. They ran straight past them and crashed into their southern allies.

A new blast of horns shattered the night. The air shimmered. In a blur of movement, an entire Calvary appeared as if dropping out of light speed.

"Yeah, baby!" a voice wailed. "PARTY!"

A shower of arrows arced over them and slammed into the enemy, vaporizing hundreds of demons. But these weren't regular arrows. They made whizzy sounds as they flew, like WEEEEE! Some had pinwheels attached to them. Others had boxing gloves rather than points.

"Centaurs!" Annabeth yelled.

The centaur army exploded into their midst in a riot of colors: tie-dyed shirts, rainbow Afro wigs, over sized sunglasses, and war painted faces. Some had slogans across their flanks like _Horsez Pwn_ or _Kronos Sux_.

Hundreds of them filled the entire block. Danielle blinked and figured that this would make any enemy run, no matter who they were.

"Percy!" Chiron shouted across the sea of wild centaurs. He was dressed in armor from the waist up, his bow in his hand, and was grinning in satisfaction. "Sorry, we're late!"

"DUDE!" another centaur yelled. "Talk later. WASTE MONSTERS NOW!"

He locked and loaded a double-barrel paint gun and blasted an enemy hellhound bright pink. The paint must have been mixed with Celestrial bronze dust or something because as soon as it splattered the hellhound, the monster yelped and dissolved into a pink –and-black puddle.

"PARTY PONIES!" a centaur yelled. "SOUTH FLORIDA!"

Somewhere across the battlefield, a twangy voice yelled back. "HEART OF TEXAS CHAPTER!"

"HAWAII OWNS YOUR FACES!" a third one shouted.

It was by far the funniest and oddest thing that Danielle had ever seen, in both the magical and godly worlds. The entire Titan army turned and fled pushed back by a flood of paintballs, arrows, swords, and NERF baseball bats. The centaurs trampled everything in their path.

"Stop running, you fools!" Kronos yelled. "Stand and ACKK!"

That last part was because a panicked Hyperborian giant stumbled backward and sat on top of him. The lord of time disappeared under a giant blue butt.

The army was chased for several blocks until Chiron yelled. "HOLD! On your promise, HOLD!"

It wasn't easy, but eventually the order got relayed up and down the ranks of centaurs, and they started to pull back, letting the enemy flee.

"Chiron's smart," Annabeth said, wiping the sweat off her face. "If we pursue, we'll get too spread out. We need to regroup."

"But the enemy-" Percy began.

"They're not defeated," she agreed. "But the dawn is coming. At least we've bought some time."

Percy clearly didn't like it as he watched the last of the monsters run back toward the East River. Everyone then turned back toward the Empire State Building.

XXXXX

The Hunters and campers decided to put up a two-block perimeter, with a command tent at the Empire State Building. Chiron informed them that the party ponies had sent chapters from almost every state in the union: forty from California, two from Rhode Island, thirty from Illinois…Roughly five hundred total had answered his call, but even with that many, they couldn't defend more than a few blocks.

"Dude," said a centaur named Larry. His T-shirt identified him as **BIG CHIEF UBER GUY** NEW MEXICO CHAPTER. "That was more fun than our last convention in Vegas!"

"Yeah," said Owen from South Dakota. He wore a black leather jacket and an old WWII army helmet. "We totally wasted them!"

Chiron patted Owen on the back. "You did well, my friends, but don't get careless. Kronos should never be underestimated. Now why don't you visit the diner on West 33rd and get some breakfast? I hear the Delaware chapter found a stash of root beer."

"Root beer!" They almost trampled each other as they galloped off.

Danielle burst out laughing. "Oh, I have to show the centaurs around my old school this memory!"

Chiron chuckled. "Ah yes, Hogwarts centaurs. Forgive me but I do think that they would have heart attacks before the memory is over."

He had met the centaurs around Hogwarts several times, both when Olympus was in Britain and after it moved. They had never liked him, feeling that humans had 'tainted' him too much and he was little better than a 'common mule.'

He shook that off as Annabeth gave him a big hug and Mrs. O'Leary, Percy's pet hellhound, licked his face.

"Ack," he grumbled. "Enough of that, dog. Yes, I'm glad to see you too."

"Chiron, thanks," Percy said. "Talk about saving the day."

He shrugged. "I'm sorry it took so long. Centaurs travel fast, as you know; we can bend distance as we ride. Even so, getting all the centaurs together is no easy task. The party ponies are not exactly organized."

"How'd you get through the magic defenses around the city?" Annabeth asked.

"They slowed us down a bit," Chiron admitted, "but I think they're intended mostly to keep mortals out. Kronos doesn't want puny humans getting in the way of his great victory."

Danielle nodded. It sounded like Kronos, Morpheus, and Hecate put a huge Muggle, or in this case mortal, repelling ward around the entire city. Combine that with the powerful sleep spell and she was thinking of some serious magic. Of course, it was harder for magic to affect those involved in the godly world. On small levels it didn't mean much, but on this scale, the entire city, it would make a much more noticeable difference.

She was so lost in thought; she missed what Percy had said.

"And Typhon?" Percy asked.

Chiron's face darkened. "The gods are tiring. Dionysus was incapacitated yesterday. Typhon smashed his chariot and the wine god went down somewhere in the Appalachians. No one has seen him since. Hephaestus is out of action as well. He was thrown from the battle so hard he created a new lake in West Virginia. He will heal, but not soon enough to help. The others still fight. They've managed to slow Typhon's approach. But the monster cannot be stopped. He will arrive in New York by this time tomorrow. Once he and Kronos combine forces…"

"Then what chance do we have?" Percy said. "We can't hold out another day."

"We'll have to," Thalia said. "I'll see about setting some new traps around the perimeter."

She looked exhausted. Her jacket was smeared in grime and monster dust, but she managed to get to her feet and stagger off.

"I should check on the other Hunters," Danielle said. Much like Thalia, she was a mess. Her hair tie holding it into a ponytail was long gone and her head was covered in monster dust. Her clothes were ripped in several places and she still only had one knife.

Despite all of that, she still managed to make it to the infirmary tent across the street from the Empire State Building to see how many Hunters were injured. Laying on one of the beds was one of the last of her sisters she thought would be here.

"Phoebe?"

The daughter of Ares was awake on one of the makeshift beds but she looked pretty banged up. One of her legs was in a splint and by the look of her shoulder, had dislocated one of her arms.

Phoebe groaned when she saw her. "Please tell me that we won and lady Artemis is on her way."

Danielle shook her head sadly and sat down next to one of her best friends now that Zoe was gone. "I wish. Want me to heal that leg or shoulder?"

Phoebe shook her head. "Save your magic for something more important. I'm alive, so that's something."

Danielle grimaced. At the rate her older sisters were getting injured or dying on her, she would be the eldest in the Hunt in a year.

"Don't give in Phoebe. We ARE going to win this thing."

The daughter of the war god laughed at that. "Good to know. Of course, I'm kicking your butt if we lose for lying to me."

"With that leg? I don't think so!"

Both girls laughed, needing it after that last battle.

"Take care Phoebe. We'll be hunting with lady Artemis again in no time."

Phoebe nodded and fell back on the pillow of her bed, probably needing the sleep.

Looking around the other beds, Danielle saw dozens of campers and almost as many Hunters. Apollo's kids were going from one to another quickly, working on the most wounded first. Elizabeth could be seen using her own healing powers with Crystal, doing their best. Breathing heavily for a moment before bringing out her wand, she started healing those that weren't injured too terribly so the other medics could focus on the ones that needed it. She didn't want to waste too much magic when she might need it later for something much bigger.

She stopped after only twenty minutes or so when she heard something. A mechanical drumbeat growing louder as it approached-the chop-chop-chop of a helicopter.

Normally, she would brush it off and ignore it, but this was different. The winds created by the helicopter's blades were shaking the entire infirmary tent.

Danielle ran outside the tent and saw the offending flying vehicle quickly approaching. It was a civilian model painted dark red, with a bright green "DE" logo on the side.

She noticed that she was standing in front of Chiron, Percy and Annabeth again. The daughter of Athena's face was red as she glared at Percy.

"What is _she_ doing here?" Annabeth demanded. "How did she get through the barrier?"

"Who?" asked both Chiron and Danielle at the same time. "What mortal would be insane enough-"?

Chiron's speech was cut off when the helicopter suddenly pitched forward.

"The Morpheus enchantment!" Chiron said. "The foolish mortal pilot is asleep."

The helicopter careened sideways, falling toward a row of office buildings. Even if it didn't crash, the gods of the air would probably swat it out of the sky for coming near the Empire State Building.

Annabeth whistled and a Pegasus swooped in out of nowhere.

"Come on, Percy," Annabeth growled. "We have to save your _friend_."

Before anyone could stop them, both demigods were on the winged horse and flying toward the out of control helicopter.

Danielle watched in almost morbid fascination, as they both got closer to the still swaying flying vehicle.

"A brave move," Chiron said next to her as he watched as well. "Let's hope it works."

Danielle nodded. "Does Annabeth know how to fly a helicopter?"

The aged centaur's nervous looked answered the question. It was possible for a child of Athena to instinctively know how to do certain things or something worked as long as they don't panic. The question would be if this were one of those times.

Annabeth managed to grab onto the door from her position but then one of the Pegasus's wings slammed against the metal of the helicopter. Percy and the Pegasus plummeted, leaving Annabeth holding onto the door and dangling in midair.

Panicking and wanting to help, Danielle watched as some girl in the helicopter helped Annabeth climb inside. Percy and his winged stead however, were falling like a rock. At the last moment, the horse extended his wings and tried to glide down but was coming in too hot.

Unable to think of anything else to do, Danielle used magic to make the pavement softer so they had an easier landing. Percy and the horse still tumbled onto the ground-Pegasus over demigod.

As the flying horse seemed to be moaning in pain, Chiron galloped over with his medical pouch and began working on the Pegasus.

Just as Percy was getting up from his own landing place, it was clear that the helicopter was only a few seconds away from slamming into the side of a building.

Then, miraculously, the helicopter righted itself. It spun in a circle and hovered. Very slowly, it began to descend.

It seemed to take forever, but finally the helicopter thudded to a landing in the middle of Fifth Avenue. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. Annabeth was at the controls.

Danielle and Percy ran forward as the rotors spun to a stop. A girl with fiery red hair opened the side door and dragged out the pilot. Danielle instantly sent the poor sleeping guy off to the side where the ground was still soft.

The new girl looked like she had just come from vacation. She was wearing beach shorts, a T-shirt and sandals. Her hair was tangled and her face was green from the helicopter ride.

Annabeth climbed out last.

Percy stared at her in awe. "I didn't know you could fly a helicopter."

"Neither did I," she said. "My dad's crazy into aviation. Plus, Daedalus had some notes on flying machines. I just took my best guess on the controls."

"You saved my life," said the mystery girl to Annabeth.

Percy suddenly looked between the new girl and Danielle. "Oh, sorry. Danielle, this is Rachel Dare. Rachel, this is Danielle."

Both girls nodded and shook hands, still a little freaked out from the helicopter incident.

Annabeth shrugged at Rachel's statement. "Let's not make a habit of it, me saving your life. What you doing here, Dare? Don't you know better than to fly into a war zone?"

"I-" Rachel glanced at Percy. "I had to be here. I knew Percy was in trouble."

The way she said that made Danielle think that there was more to Rachel than met the eye. It sounded like she had known, despite apparently being miles away from the action.

"Got that right," Annabeth grumbled. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some injured _friends_ I've got to tend to. Glad you could stop by, Rachel."

"Annabeth-" Percy called.

She stormed off.

Danielle put a hand on his shoulder. "Now is not really the time to deal with jealous teenage girls, Percy. Rachel right? What are you doing here?"

The fact that she came here just to see Percy in the middle of a war either meant she was stupid and in love, or she had news they needed to hear. Danielle was hoping for the second one.

Rachel plopped down on the curb and looked miserable. "I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to…with Annabeth…I always mess things up."

Percy took in a deep breath. "It's okay," his words sounded hallow so it was bothering him but he was ignoring it. "So what's the message you wanted to deliver?"

She frowned. "How did you know about that?"

"A dream."

Rachel didn't look surprised. She tugged at her beach shorts. They were covered in drawings, which seemed a little unusual, but the symbols were interesting: Greek letters, pictures of camp beads, sketches of monsters and faces of gods.

Danielle frowned. What was going on with this girl?

"I've been seeing things too," Rachel muttered. "I mean, not just seeing through the Mist. This is different. I've been drawing pictures, writing lines-"

"In Ancient Greek," Percy said. "Do you know what they say?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was hoping…well, if you had gone with us on vacation, I was hoping you could have helped me figure out what's happening to me."

She looked at both Percy and Danielle pleadingly. Her face was sunburned from the beach. Her nose was peeling. Danielle was going over every ancient story she knew. Everything that her sisters, Artemis or the other gods have told her so far.

"I…might know something," Danielle said slowly. "When I was asking about Apollo when he visited once. When I was wondering if there was anything the two gods had in common beside archery, Artemis and…Zoe told me a few things. One might help us here."

Rachel looked at her instantly, desperate for any kind of information. "Tell me."

Danielle let out a breath and spoke slowly. "They told me that about once in a generation, Apollo would bless a girl, a regular mortal, with the gift of sight."

"Why?" asked Percy.

Danielle glared at him for interrupting but continued. "Apollo wants his Oracle to move on, that's why. For reasons unknown, it hasn't moved on since World War II. Anyway, he gives this mortal girl, always a normal girl so not even a Hecate magical, a small amount of his power. Not enough to equal a demigod, but enough to see through the Mist and protection against spells that would affect a regular mortal. If this girl reaches the proper age and is still a maiden by then, then she has the chance of becoming the new Oracle if deemed worthy."

Rachel's eyes grew wide at all the information. Percy looked nervous however.

"Rachel," he said. "Maybe you should talk to Chiron, just to make sure-"

Rachel suddenly flinched like she'd gotten an electric shock. "Percy, something is about to happen. A trick that ends in death."

Percy paled. "What do you mean? Whose death?"

"I don't know." She looked around nervously. "Don't you feel it?"

"Is that the message you wanted to tell me?"

"No." She hesitated. "I'm sorry. I'm not making sense, but that thought just came to me. The message I wrote on the beach was different. It had your name in it."

"Perseus," Percy said. "In Ancient Greek."

Rachel nodded. "I don't know its meaning. But I know it's important. You have to hear it. It said, _Perseus, you are not the hero_."

Percy stared at her as if she had slapped him. "You come thousands of miles to tell me I'm not the hero?"

"It's important," she insisted. "It will affect what you do."

"Not the hero of the prophecy?" he asked. "Not the hero who defeats Kronos? What do you mean?"

"I'm…I'm sorry, Percy. That's all I know. I had to tell you because-"

"Well!" Chiron cantered over, "This must be Miss Dare."

Percy looked like he was caught in a hurricane of emotions. Danielle figured that she should answer instead.

"Hello Chiron, my new friend Rachel here might be Apollo's newest chosen for his Oracle."

Rachel nodded and told Chiron everything she had just told them, including the suspicion she might have been chosen by Apollo.

Chiron stroked his beard. "Miss Dare…perhaps we should talk."

"Chiron," Percy blurted out. He looked like he was remembering something he would rather forget. "You…you'll help Rachel, right? I mean, you'll warn her that she's got to be careful with this stuff. Not to go too far."

Chiron's tail flicked like it does when he's anxious. "Yes, Percy. I will do my best to understand what is happening and advise Miss Dare, but this may take some time. Meanwhile, you should rest. We've moved your parent's car to safety. The enemy seems to be staying put for now. We've set up bunks in the Empire State Building. Get some sleep."

Danielle figured that should apply to her as well and left, heading for the Empire State Building. After fighting for hours and exhausting magic use, her body needed rest.

Inside the lobby, there were at least three dozen empty bunks. Collapsing onto one of them, she was asleep in moments.

XXXXX

Danielle was now absolutely sure of one thing. One day, she would find whoever was giving her these dreams and smack them.

She sighed as she realized that she was dreaming. Now, normally this would be a good thing as lucid dreams were much better than ordinary dreams since she could alter them to whatever she wanted. This time, however, she was reliving a memory.

Sighing again, she watched as her past self and David walked through the snake door in the Chamber of Secrets under Hogwarts. Frowning, she wondered if that was what her hair looked like in the back now. She might be an immortal Huntress pledged to serve the goddess of the hunt and moon until she died, but she was still a teenage girl.

The Chamber of Secrets, to be honest, just looked like a huge glorified sewer. Sure, the snake statues along the walls were pretty cool but the large statue of Salazar Slytherin in the center of the main chamber just looked ugly. If she was going to make a sort of home away from home and decorate it, she was going to make a statue of herself that actually looked good!

A bit of fiery red hair got her attention and she noticed Ginny Weasley, passed out on the floor, with Tom Riddle's diary in her arms. She groaned, knowing what was going to happen.

David ran forward like an idiot, dropping his wand in the process. "Ginny!" He dropped down and started shaking Ginny, "please don't be dead!"

Her younger self, if one could call it that, she looked almost the same then as she did now, had her wand out, looking everywhere for the basilisk.

"She won't wake," said a voice from behind both David and past Danielle.

Turning, they were faced with a handsome boy about sixteen. He had black hair and seemed to exclude a sense of power that still creeped Danielle out. Tom had been too charismatic back then for his own good, too popular, too subtly dangerous.

"Tom, Tom Riddle?" David asked as he tried to support Ginny's dead weight on his shoulder, only to fail and forced to drop her again. "Are you a ghost?"

Tom shook his head, "a memory, trapped in a diary for fifty years."

Past Danielle looked at him suspiciously. She had heard about pensive memories but had never read or heard of one that could think for themselves. What were they up against?

"You possessed Ginny, didn't you?" past Danielle asked. "All those times I saw Ginny's eyes turn red, all those times she didn't look like herself. It was you."

Tom smirked as he twirled a wand between his fingers. David seemed to have recognized it. "Hey, that's mine! You can give it back to me now."

She face palmed at the snobby tone of voice he said that in. Only spoiled brats like David and Draco Malfoy would say something like that. David was way too used to people doing whatever he wanted just because he was the boy-who-lived.

Danielle didn't really mind therefore when Tom gave him a deadpan expression before sending a bolt of red light through the wand. It hit David in the chest and he was out cold before he hit the floor.

"I never could suffer fools lightly," Tom said snidely. He then turned his attention toward Danielle. "You on the other hand, seem to be the brains of the Potter twins."

"I will take the insult, Tom," said past Danielle, looking at David with a mixture of sadness and anger. She turned back to Riddle, "how is this possible? You really can't be a memory."

"I'm afraid that the information you are looking for is beyond you, at the moment," he said. "I am going to kill you soon so why waste my breath telling you what is clearly too complicated for you to understand."

Past Danielle looked a little angry that yet another person was brushing her off. "Well, aren't you a bright ball of sunshine. Going to call your pet basilisk and order it to kill me?"

"I could, but I admit that I do find myself curious, Danielle Potter." Tom stepped toward her and gave her an almost hungry look. "Ginny Weasley told me all about you and your brother. I have to wonder what really happened that night on Godric's Hallow. How Voldemort's power broke and David became famous for doing nothing."

Danielle shrugged, "I admit, that it was probably something our grandparents did before Voldemort killed them. I have to wonder why you care since Voldemort was after your time, though." The only thing she was thinking at this point was to keep him talking. Villains always love spilling all of their deep dark secrets when they are sure they are winning, it was almost sad how predictable they could be.

Tom smiled, twisting it into a shape that did not suit his normally handsome features. "Voldemort, is my past, present, and future."

Turning, he used David's wand to write in the air, 'Tom Marvolo Riddle.' He waved it once and the letters rearranged themselves to spell, 'I am Lord Voldemort.'

Riddle turned back to Danielle, "did you really think, that I would keep my filthy Muggle father's name?"

"Well I knew you changed your name somewhere along the way," said Danielle, matter of factly. "Who in their right mind would name a kid 'Voldemort'? Either you had changed your name, or you were from a different country than Britain and that wouldn't have helped you as Magical Britain doesn't really like foreigners."

Riddle was giving her a death glare. "Anyway! You were right before, I did possess Ginny Weasley when she was given my diary. I forced her to attack the Mudbloods and the Squib's cat. It took a long time for her to stop trusting the diary.

"You should have seen her entries. They started off dull, like 'oh, the great David Potter will never notice me,' and 'when will I go off and live in my fairy princess castle as Mrs. Potter?' After Ginny started putting enough of herself into me, I started giving her a bit of me. Suddenly, her entries became a lot more entertaining. 'You have to help me Tom, I think I am losing my mind' 'Dear Tom, a cat was attacked and I don't know where I was but I have paint all down my front.' 'Tom, there was another attack today and my entire day was a blank, you have to help me, Tom.'"

Past Danielle was now wondering when he would shut up and actually start fighting. Maybe this was one of Tom's special powers? Bore a person to death.

"You know," said past Danielle. "I never really liked Ginny Weasley. True, I don't want her to die, but her family is mean to me and I have to deal with her too often and her stupid hero worship over my brother. Plus, she is a preteen girl. What else did you think she would write in a diary?"

The idea that Tom Riddle, AKA Voldemort, wouldn't know what a teenage girl would write about in a supposed secret diary was laughable. A diary was meant to keep secret thoughts a secret. Tom was not only an evil murderer, but also a creepy stalker who wrote to young girls without her parents knowing.

Tom growled. "Know it all little brat! I should kill you now! But since you asked for him, I think I'll let Salazar's noble work kill you." He turned to the statue of Slytherin. "Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!"

Danielle didn't need to watch anymore of the memory and tried to focus on something other than her past self-facing off against a large sixty-foot long snake. Since she knew what happened, she focused more on Tom Riddle than she had the first time. His image seemed to be blurry, like she was seeing him through smoked glass but it was getting clearer all the time.

Ginny meanwhile, was getting paler; her aura was getting weaker as it seemed to be transferred to Tom. The diary still had a magical link to Riddle, even though he had an almost corporeal body.

Danielle continued to watch herself as Fawkes arrived in time to blind the snake. She put the Sorting Hat on and called out for a weapon to defeat the thing with since magic wouldn't work on something that big. She winced as she saw herself fail at sword fighting with the sword of Gryffindor, mentally noting that she was much better with a blade now.

The basilisk died when she drove the sword through the roof of the snake's mouth and straight into its brain. The monster of Slytherin writhed for a bit before falling to the ground, dead. Danielle rubbed her arm where the basilisk fang got her, which had not been a good time for her.

The dream finally ended when her past self drove the fang she had pulled from her arm into the diary that Fawkes had given her. Tom exploded into an impressive white light, David's wand clattering to the floor. The last thing before everything went black was David waking up and picking up the fallen sword of Gryffindor.

XXXXX

Danielle woke with a start when she heard a huge roar a few blocks from the Empire State Building. Getting out of the bed, she could have sworn she saw the same black feather as before out of the corner of her eye. What god or monster had black feathers? What were they trying to show her with these dreams?

Shaking herself to get ready for Kronos's next challenge, she ran outside the building, bow in hand.

When she got outside, it was a total mess. The Hephaestus cabin was out of Greek fire. The Apollo cabin and the other Hunters were scrounging for arrows. Most of the demigods had already ingested so much ambrosia and nectar they didn't dare take much more.

In total, there were twenty campers, seventeen Hunters, counting her, and half a dozen satyrs left in fighting shape. The rest had taken refuge on Olympus. The Party Ponies tried to form ranks, but they staggered and giggled and they all smelled like root beer. The Texans were head-butting the Coloradoans. The Missouri branch was arguing with Illinois. The chances were pretty good the whole army would end up fighting each other rather than the enemy.

Spotting Thalia who was with Percy and Annabeth again, she ran in that direction just as Chiron trotted up with Rachel on his back. That was rare honor, centaurs don't just let anyone one ride them, and almost never a mortal.

"Your friend here has some useful insights, Percy," he said.

Rachel blushed. "Just some things I saw in my head."

"A drakon," Chiron said. "A Lydian drakon, to be exact. The oldest and most dangerous kind."

Danielle grimaced, "are you sure?"

Rachel nodded, "I'm not sure but this drakon has a particular fate. It will be killed by a child of Ares."

That made Danielle grimace harder. Darn Phoebe for not wanting to be healed! She was the only kid of Ares she knew!

Annabeth crossed her arms. "How can you possibly know that?"

"I just saw it. I can't explain."

"Well, let's hope you're wrong," said Percy. "Because we're a little short on children of Ares…" He paused before cursing in Ancient Greek.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"The spy," he told her. "Kronos said, '_we know they cannot beat this drakon'_. The spy has been keeping him updated. Kronos knows the Ares cabin isn't with us. He intentially picked a monster we can't kill."

Thalia scowled. "If I ever catch your spy, he's going to be very sorry. Maybe we could send another messenger to camp-"

"I've already done it," Chiron said. "Blackjack is on his way. But if Silena wasn't able to convince Clarisse, I doubt Blackjack will be able-"

A roar shook the ground. It sounded very close.

"Rachel," Percy said, "get inside the building."

"I want to stay."

A shadow blotted out the sun. Across the street, the drakon slithered down the side of a skyscraper. It roared, and a thousand windows shattered.

"On second thought," Rachel said in a small voice, "I'll be inside."

XXXXX

First, the differences between dragons and drakons.

Drakons are several millennia older than dragons. They look like giant serpents. Most don't have wings. Most don't breath fire (though some do). All are poisonous. All are immensely strong, with scales harder than titanium. Their eyes can paralyze their victim; not the instant death glare a magical basilisk is capable of or even a turn-you-to-stone Medusa-type paralysis. But the oh-my-gods-that-big-snake-is-going-to-eat-me type of paralysis, with is just as bad.

From Danielle had been able to figure out. Hecate had liked dragons and had managed to make her own magical varieties. The closest she had ever come to making a magical drakon however, was the basilisk. A sixty-foot long snake that kills with a gaze into its eyes kind of pales in comparison to this particular drakon.

The Lydian drakon was a two-hundred-foot-long serpent as thick a school bus, currently slithering down the side of a building, its yellow eyes like searchlights and its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth big enough to chew elephants.

Give her the Chamber of Secrets any day.

Meanwhile, the enemy army advanced down Fifth Avenue. They had done their best to push cars out of the way to keep the mortals safe, but that just made it easier for the enemy army to approach. The Party Ponies swished their tails nervously. Chiron galloped up and down their ranks, shouting encouragement to stand tough and think about victory and root beer, but they looked like they would panic and run any second.

Percy squeaked something out that Danielle couldn't make out before yelling: "I'LL TAKE THE DRAKON! Everyone else, hold the line against the army!

Annabeth stood next to him. She had pulled her owl helmet low over her face, but it was clear her eyes were red.

"Will you help me?" he asked her.

"That's what I do," she said miserably. "I help my friends."

Percy almost winced at her tone. "Go invisible, look for weak links in its armor while I keep it busy. Just be careful."

He whistled. "Mrs. O'Leary, heel!"'

"ROOOF!" His pet hellhound leaped over a line of centaurs and gave him a kiss.

Danielle took a deep breath herself and drew her hunting knife. She hesitated but brought out another one she had recently taken from a fallen Hunter. She felt horrible about doing so, Jessica had been a good confident for a long time, but she needed a replacement weapon. She just hoped that Jessica would forgive her in Elysium.

In unison, everyone charged the army.

XXXXX

The drakon was three stories above them, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up their forces. Wherever it looked, centaurs froze in fear.

From the north, the enemy army crashed into the Party Ponies and their lines broke. The drakon lashed out, swallowing three Californian centaurs in one gulp before they could get close.

Danielle was doing her best. Using her speed to dodge enemy attacks before striking back with her knives. She saw a Greek fire bomb coming toward them and she shattered it with a wandless blasting hex, making the fire incinerate an enemy giant.

Taking a jump back, she summoned her bow instead and shot arrow after arrow, using magic to duplicate them so she always had a full quiver. The copies would only last a few hours but that really didn't matter in a battle like this.

She was only barely aware of Percy, Annabeth, and Mrs. O'Leary attacking the drakon as she focused on the battle. She looked up however when a wave of poison from the drakon actually landed on a whole wave of monsters, melting them into goo. Unfortunately, it also got a few centaurs, turning them to dust as well.

She was able to see Percy plunge his sword into the drakon's left eye, the spotlight went out. The drakon hissed and reared to strike, Percy managed to dodge and it bit a swimming-pool-sized chunk out of the pavement. Percy was good, but the best he could do was distract it until something game changing happened. Something that was unlikely to happen.

The rest of the battle wasn't going well. The centaurs had panicked under the onslaught of giants and demons. Arrows screamed. Fire exploded in waves across both armies, but the action was moving across the street to the entrance of the Empire State Building. They were losing ground.

Danielle was doing the best she could but it just wasn't enough. The enemy was too overwhelming. Not for the first time in this war did she wish she could use Artemis's full blessing again but it wasn't possible. According to the moon goddess, every Hunter was capable of it but almost none could handle the power or meet the right requirements at the right time. If she hadn't been out of energy when she had fought Atlas, the full blessing would have killed her. It was also a one-time thing; she couldn't access it again if she wanted to.

She was still shooting arrows at the closest monsters at her, firing at least two or three at a time, but she was backing up step by step. By the time she had reached the doors to the Empire State Building, she had been forced to bring out her knives again and fight with close combat.

Nearby, she saw that Elizabeth had resorted to her last defense of coating her entire body in fire. The dryad daughter of Hermes didn't have a lot of power behind her fire but she had excellent control. She was still fighting but the use of so much fire was tiring, she wouldn't be able to keep it up.

They were out of options. No more help was coming, they would have to retreat to Olympus.

Then, she heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound one hears in New York often, but anyone in the godly world would recognize it immediately: chariot wheels.

A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"

And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with the symbol of a wild boar's head. A team of skeletal horses with manes of fire pulled each. A total of thirty fresh warriors, armor gleaming and eyes full of hate, lowered their lances as one-making a bristling wall of death.

"The children of Ares!" said Thalia nearby. She shook her head, "glad to see that Rachel was right."

Leading the charge was a girl in red armor, her face covered by a boar's-head helm. She held aloft a spear that crackled with electricity. While half of her chariots charged the monster army, the girl led the other half straight for the drakon.

The serpent reared back and managed to throw off Mrs. O'Leary who as on its head. The friendly hellhound hit the side of the building but the serpent had already zeroed in on the new threat. Even with only one eye, its glare was enough to paralyze two chariot drivers; they veered into a line of cars. The other four chariots kept charging. The monster bared its fangs to strike and got a mouthful of Celestrial bronze javelins.

"EEEESSSS!" it screamed, with is probably drakon for owwwww!

Across the street, the arrival of six chariots filled with new fighters gave the Party Ponies new hope. They rallied at the doors of the Empire State Building, and the enemy army was momentarily thrown into confusion.

Inspired by the new arrivals, Hunters and campers united to take out a big chunk of the army before they could recover. Danielle risked her magic and shot a bolt of energy form her wand into a crowed of monsters, with detonated and exploded, vaporizing the lot.

Hunters scrounged for arrows and took out about a dozen giants. Thalia fought hard and used her spear to kill monster after monster. The campers and centaurs worked together with the new Ares warriors and were able to hold them off, skeletal horses breathing fire in the faces of Hyperborean giants.

On the other side of the enemy army, the drakon had sprayed poison in the Ares girl's face. Her siblings were hacking and slashing at weak points in the Drakon's scales.

After about ten minutes of fighting, a voice yelled out, "YOU WANT DEATH? WELL, COME ON!"

Monsters, demigods and Hunters alike paused and watched at who was clearly an Ares girl, charging at the drakon, the spear she was holding crackling with electricity. Whoever she was, she was brave for attacking a drakon that size with no armor or shield.

The giant serpent struck the ground next to her, pulverizing the ground in front of her. The girl just jumped onto the creature's head. As it reared up, she drove the electric spear into its good eye with so much force; it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic weapon's power.

Electricity arced across the monster's head, causing its whole body to shudder. She jumped free, rolling to safety on the sidewalk as smoke boiled from the drakon's mouth. The drakon's flesh dissolved and collapsed into a hollow scaly tunnel of armor.

Everyone on both sides of the battle stared at her in awe. No one had ever destroyed such a huge monster single-handedly. The girl didn't even seem to care as she ran toward the one who had had poison sprayed on her earlier.

The battle commenced after the shock had worn off but everyone now knew to stay away from that girl.

It didn't take long before the monster army retreated toward 35th street.

Danielle sighed in relief seeing the enemy run from the Empire State Building but that did not stop a certain Ares girl from attacking them anyway.

Apparently, the powerful girl had looped a grappling line through the drakon's eye sockets. She lashed her horses and took off, dragging the body of the drakon behind the chariot like a Chinese New Year dragon. The Ares girl charged after the enemy, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. As she rode, Danielle realized that she was literally glowing. An aura of red fire flickered around her.

"The blessing of Ares," Thalia said. "I've never seen it in person before."

For the moment, that girl was as invincible as Percy was with his curse of Achilles. The enemy threw spears and arrows, but nothing hit her.

"I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON-SLAYER!" She yelled. "I will kill you ALL! Where is Kronos? Bring him out! Is he a coward?"

"Clarisse!" Percy yelled. "Stop it. Withdraw!"

"What's the matter, Titan Lord?" she yelled. "BRING IT ON!"

There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. The two-hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hallow scrapping noise against the pavement, like a thousand knives.

Meanwhile, the wounded was being tended to, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy had retreated from sight, Clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that Kronos meet her in battle.

A camper that had shown up with Clarisse sighed. "I'll watch her. She'll get tired eventually. I'll make sure she comes inside."

"What about the camp?" Percy asked. "Is anybody left there?"

He shook his head. "Only Argus and the nature spirits. Peleus the dragon is still guarding the tree."

"They won't last long," Percy said. "But I'm glad you came."

He nodded sadly. "I'm sorry it took so long. I tried to reason with Clarisse. I said there's no point in guarding camp if you guys die. All our friends are here. I'm sorry it took Silena…"

"My Hunters will help you stand guard," Thalia said. "Annabeth and Percy, you should go to Olympus. I have a feeling they'll need you there-to set up the final defense."

As Percy and Annabeth left for the elevator to Olympus, Danielle sat down on a nearby bench with a sigh, looking around. How were they supposed to continue? They only had a few campers and Hunters left, Kronos kept finding more and more monsters to throw at them, and now with no more reinforcements, it looked like they were on their own for good.

She didn't know what to do. What god could she pray to if they were all busy with an even bigger threat to Olympus than what they were fighting? Her bracelet barely had any magic left, her own magical core was only at half strength, and there was a Titan lord of time they still had to deal with, that only Percy could probably handle…maybe.

Scooting over on the bench she was sitting on, she made room for Elizabeth who was coming over, staggering slightly.

"Oh gods, remind me to never use that much fire again." Her reddish brown hair was still smoking slightly and she looked exhausted. Her clothes were smoldering and she was covered in both soot and monster dust.

Danielle sighed. "Go up to Olympus, heal any wounded you can find." When her dryad friend was about to complain, she cut her off. "You are no good to us if you can't fight, and you obviously can't. To be honest, I don't blame you if you do. I think lady Artemis would understand."

Elizabeth just glared at her. "You really think I would abandon you? I'm in this the same as you are."

"Can you even hold a bow right now?" Danielle fired back. "Sadly, I still have the energy to fight and I intend to give them one Hades of a fight before I die…if I die."

"You won't die," Elizabeth said firmly. "We will survive this. And we WILL win."

Danielle wished she could share her enthusiasm. She really did. She pulled out her 'borrowed' hunting knife and turned it over in her hand. It wasn't hers, she knew. It belonged to Jessica. She needed this weapon but at the same time it felt heavy in her hand, not sure if she should use it or not.

She looked around and saw the dissolved monster dust and the war zone they had turned Manhattan into. But she also saw the fallen Hunters, her sisters, the fallen campers. How could one mad man (Titan) cause all of this carnage by just being hungry for revenge and power? It had taken an army of gods to defeat him the last time during the last Titan war, and this time they didn't have a god that could shoot lightning from his master bolt. They didn't even have anyone that could take his scythe and cut him to pieces again.

Elizabeth leaned back in her seat on the bench, looking at the same things she did. "You know, despite all of this, I still appreciate lady Artemis for bringing me into the war."

Danielle looked at her as if she was crazy. "You want to fight monsters for hours on end when there is a good chance Olympus might be destroyed anyway?"

The dryad Hunter shook her head. "No, I'm just glad I got to see more of the world. I've been in Yellowstone for my entire life and while Hestia has been my friend for over a century, I never got to appreciate the outside world. She told me about the world but it isn't the same as experiencing it. I have to thank lady Artemis for that, she gave me that chance and I want to repay her."

She then stood up. "I actually think I should go up to Olympus. I think I might do more good there than here after all. Who knows, I might be able to protect a sister or two." She left.

Danielle stared at the street, looking but not seeing, lost in thought. She had to admit, being in the Hunt and fighting for the future of Olympus was a better future than she thought she might have gotten. If Zoe had not found her that day, she might have been forced to work in Knockturn alley or something, a scary prospect considering what kind of 'jobs' she would have been forced to accept there.

She owed a lot to Zoe. To Artemis. Hades, to Olympus itself. No matter how bad it got, she could count on her new sisters, the family she had always wanted when she was younger. James and Lily had never thought of having other kids after David since any more would take away more time from him. But now, she had people that cared about her, sisters that didn't care about her past or her powers.

She stared at the knife still in her hand. Jessica had been a daughter of Demeter that had joined the Hunt before a satyr could have taken her to camp, although it had been more to get away from her drunken father than anything else. Jessica had taken the time to etch flowers into the Celestrial bronze of her knife, plants having always calmed her down and claiming that doing so helped her focus in battle. As strange as it sounded, Danielle was almost sure that one of her friends was still with her in spirit with her knife in her hand.

Closing her hand over the handle, she found it didn't feel as heavy as it had a moment ago. Jessica had given her life to protect Olympus. So had Zoe, Bianca, and every other Hunter that had died in both the past and present. Who was she to deny them of their sacrifice if she gave up? Just like with Bianca and Zoe a year and a half ago, she vowed to not let their lost lives be in vain.

She might not have the bravery of Gryffindor, or the intelligence of Ravenclaw, but she was a Hufflepuff! Loyalty and hard work was what she excelled in and she was going to show Kronos would a true Hufflepuff could do! BADGER PRIDE!

She wasn't Percy. She wasn't Thalia. She was Danielle and proud of it! A magical Hunter and proud of it! Prophecies be damned, she was going to do her best to help her friends defeat the bastard that had killed her sisters and send him to Tartarus personally!

Standing, she put away the knife with new determination and decided to help with patrolling the area, feeling like they would need it. Kronos seemed like the kind of guy that would press the attack if he felt that his opponent was weakened. Clarisse was still going crazy as she encircled the building, shouting like a person possessed for Kronos to come and attack her personally.

Standing around and wondering where to go that wasn't being patrolled by someone else, Thalia came up to her. She looked grim as she came closer. "Some day, huh?"

Danielle smiled, "trick question, or are you actually asking?"

Thalia smiled as well. "I figured that we might lose so why not use some humor. But seriously, I'm pretty sure that Kronos is coming and sooner than we are prepared for."

Danielle nodded, "that is be what I would do if I was as crazy as he is. He knows how vulnerable we are now, he would be a fool to not attack us now."

The daughter of Zeus sighed. "At least the spy is gone, that is one good thing about the last attack." When Danielle looked at her curiously, she continued. "That girl that attacked the drakon before Clarisse, her name was apparently Silena, a daughter of Aphrodite. She had supposedly been passing on information for years, back when Luke was still at the camp. If what everyone is saying is true, she felt bad about it and charged into battle to make up for it."

Somehow, that didn't really surprise Danielle that much. "I take it she and Clarisse were friends if that is anything to go by." She was pointing at the daughter of Ares who was still riding around with that drakon carcass trailing behind it.

Thalia shrugged, "I guess." She sighed. "Things are not looking good but we have to try."

"That's all we can do."

Thalia and Danielle looked at each other in respect. Both would rather die fighting for Olympus than groveling at the feet of Kronos or anyone else. Yes, they did have more loyalty to Artemis than to the Olympians in general but their lady was still on the council, saving her seat of power was a must.

The daughter of Zeus had been fighting monsters for years, she had seen the worst of the godly world and was still going strong. Her supplies were running low, her quiver almost empty, but she was as determined to stop Kronos and his army as she was.

She herself had been humiliated back the magical world of Great Britain but she had put that behind her and was ready to finish the job that the big three had started in the first Titan war. She might not have a lot of magic at her disposal but that was not everything she had. She was ready to prove to the world that not all magicals from Britain were inbred morons that relied on magic more than common sense.

They nodded, each knowing what the other thinking. _To the end, no matter the cost_.

Because of that, they didn't flinch or were even surprised when they heard the booming of Kronos's army marching toward them again. It seemed that Kronos had brought out everything he still had left. In the distance, Clarisse was frozen in ice mid-shout, it seemed that a Hyperborian giant had gotten to her.

The army was too large for them and they knew it. With only a few campers, Hunters and centaurs left, it was impossible to do anything more to slow them down. What with being outnumbered twenty to one and everything.

Leading the attack was Kronos himself, his golden armor gleaming along with his trusty scythe. The demigod Ethan was beside him as well, standing on Kronos's right with his own blade out. A dracaenae that was larger and uglier than the others was there as well; her scaly green armor and elaborate headdress showed that she was queen of the snake women.

Behind them was the army but it was clear that Kronos wanted to finish this himself. He smiled, "demigods and Hunters, you have put up a great fight but it is lost. Olympus is doomed to be destroyed either by Typhon or myself regardless. Stand down and I promise you all a new role in my new golden age! Continue to fight and I will be forced to kill you."

It was a testament to everyone still standing that no one surrendered. Chirion was backing the remaining centaurs that were now struggling not to run. Thalia leveled her bow with one of last of her arrows at Kronos, knowing it wouldn't do anything anyway.

Kronos looked at what was left of the Olympian defenders and sighed, like he personally didn't want to kill them. "Very well, you're fates are sealed! Kill them!"

Both armies surged toward the other, determined to do as much damage to the other as possible. Danielle and Thalia were fighting side by side and took out monsters right and left. The Ares campers along with the other demigods were battling as hard as they could. Centaurs were giving it all they had but Chirion must not have given them as good a pep talk as he thought as half of them ran, their tails between their legs.

"Thalia," Danielle managed to say as she decapitated yet another giant. "We need Percy and Annabeth! Warn them about the attack! Go!"

Thalia looked like she wanted to argue, but her quiver was empty and her bow had just broke in half when she used it to defend herself against an enemy demigod. She gave one last sad look at her and the army before turning to run through the doors.

Danielle took in a deep breath and fought like a teenager possessed, taking out monsters with every slash and strike. She didn't like it but at this point, she was forced to take out quite a few demigods, permanently. There wasn't enough time for changing tactics and stunning or disarming the few humans fighting against her. It was kill or be killed.

She had no idea how the others were doing but knew it was bad. They were so outnumbered that demigods were lying in the street, not moving.

She failed to dodge an attack in time and got a nasty sword slash from a dracaenae across her shoulder but there wasn't enough time to heal it before cutting through her armor, making her dissolve.

"HOLD!"

Kronos's forces instantly stopped attacking and pulled back. Danielle's heart almost broke at what she saw. She was the only one left standing and that was only barely. Hunters and campers were either moaning in pain off to the sides or were silent, unconscious or dead, she didn't know. The only other one that was still fighting with her was Chiron, who had an arrow out, pointing right at Kronos.

Seeing that Kronos was standing about twenty feet away from the doors to Olympus and his entire army ringed the building, she sighed. Lifting her head high, she walked the short distance to Chiron and stood beside him, muttering a healing spell to take care of her shoulder.

So this is how she would die fighting. Standing beside a centaur and in front of a huge army of monsters to defend the gods. She had to admit, she would not have thought this would be how it ended for her back in her room at Potter manor all those years ago.

Kronos was staring at her and Chiron. She could tell that he was curious over how this would go but also determined to kill them both.

"A marvelous fight, Hunter. Atlas was wise to ask you to join us. Will you help us destroy Olympus? This fight is futile no matter what you do."

Danielle took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No. I swore on the River Styx to always stand for Olympus. I swore to always fight for lady Artemis after she gave me a new home and family. I don't care if you kill me. I know that there are beings out there that are far stronger than you could ever hope to be and you will be defeated regardless of what you do here today."

She brought our her wand, "lux gladius." A glowing bluish white blade about a meter long came out of the wand tip, pulsing in her hand. She looked at Chiron and smiled, "there are few I would prefer to fight beside Chiron."

Chiron, still with his arrow pointed at Kronos, took the chance to nod at her before focusing on his target.

Kronos looked over Chiron for a moment and his eyes glowed golden before turning back to Chiron. "Stand down, little son."

Hearing Luke call Chiron son was strange, but Kronos had put contempt in his voice, like _son_ was the harshest thing he could think of.

"I'm afraid not." His tone was steely calm; Danielle was positive that was how he showed how angry he was.

"Chiron!" Annabeth's voice came from behind them. "Look out!"

The dracaenae queen had apparently gotten tired of waiting and charged. Chiron's arrow flew right between her eyes and she vaporized on the spot, her armor and weapons clattering onto the asphalt.

Chiron reached to notch another arrow but his quiver was empty. He dropped the bow and grabbed his sword.

Kronos chuckled. He advanced a step, and Chiron's horse-half skittered nervously. His tail flicked back and forth. Danielle stayed where she was, her light sword ready to strike.

"You're a teacher," Kronos sneered at Chiron. "Not a hero." He then turned to Danielle. "You have done well but this isn't your world. Go back to where you belong."

"This is where I belong!" Danielle roared before charging at Kronos herself, sword flashing between a bluish white to a glowing red and back again. She made a slash with all the strength she could muster that would have taken Kronos's head but he blocked it with his scythe easily.

Growling, she used every bit of sword fighting knowledge she had and tried to press her attack but Kronos was just too good. The burning light of her sword didn't affect his scythe at all.

Just like against Atlas, Kronos finally got her, sending her flying through the air with a vicious attack from the shaft of his weapon. Crashing against the wall of the Empire State Building, it was clear that once the dust had settled, her body was imbedded about six inches into the wall. Her sword had gone out and it looked like she was unconscious.

Percy, Thalia and Annabeth looked at her body in fear. That blow was strong enough to shatter every bone in Danielle's body.

Kronos snorted before engaging with Chiron. "This fight won't last long, you train heroes, not be one."

"Luke was a hero," Chiron said. "He was a good one, before you corrupted him."

"FOOL!" Kronos's voice shook the city. "You filled his head with empty promises. You said the gods cared about me!"

"Me" Chiron noticed. "You said _me_."

Kronos looked confused, and in that moment, Chiron struck. It was a good maneuver-a feint followed by a strike in the face. Kronos was fast though; he had all of Luke's fighting skill, which was a lot. He knocked aside Chiron's blade and yelled, "BACK!"

A blinding white light exploded between the Titan and the centaur. Just like Danielle, Chiron flew into the side of the building with such force the wall crumbled into the side of the building. The force against Danielle had been more concentrated and not as chaotic, so it hadn't broken the wall she was in.

"No!" Annabeth's wailed. The freezing spell broke. She and Percy ran toward him while Thalia made her way to the red headed Hunter. With some effort, Thalia managed to pull Danielle's body out of the wall, amazed that she wasn't that hurt, just knocked out.

"YOU!" Annabeth turned on Luke. "To think that I…that I thought-"

She drew her knife.

"Annabeth, don't." Percy tried to stop her, but she shook him off.

She attacked Kronos, and his smug smile faded. Perhaps some part of Luke remembered that he used to like this girl, used to take care of her when she was little. She plunged her knife between the straps of his armor, right at his collarbone. The blade should've sunk into his chest. Instead it bounced off. Annabeth doubled over, clutching her arm to her stomach. The jolt might've been enough to dislocate her shoulder.

Percy yanked her back as Kronos swung his scythe, slicing the air where she'd been standing.

She fought against Percy and screamed. "I HATE you!" No one was sure if she was talking about Percy, Luke, or Kronos. Tears streaked the dust on her face.

"I have to fight him," Percy said.

"It's my fight, Percy! All of our fights!" she managed to point to Thalia and Danielle. The daughter of Zeus was standing guard over her friend, who wasn't moving after that attack that had almost killed her.

Kronos laughed. "So much spirit. I can see why Luke wanted to spare you. Unfortunately, that won't be possible."

He raised his scythe. Percy got ready to defend with his own blade but before Kronos could strike, a dog's howl pierced the air somewhere behind the Titan's army. _"Arroooooooo!"_

"Mrs. O'Leary?" asked Percy.

The enemy forces stirred uneasily. Then the strangest thing happened. They began to part, clearing a path through the streets like something behind them was forcing them to.

Soon there was a free aisle down the Center of Fifth Avenue. Standing at the end of the block was my giant dog and a small figure in black armor.

"Nico?" Percy called.

"ROWWF!" Mrs. O'Leary bounded toward him, ignoring the growling monsters on either side. Nice strode forward. The enemy army fell back before him like he radiated death, which he did as the son of Hades.

Through the face of his skull-shaped helmet, he smiled. "Got your message. Is it too late to join the party?"

"Son of Hades." Kronos spat on the ground. "Do you love death so much you wish to experience it?"

"Your death," Nico said, "would be great for me."

"I'm immortal, you fool! I have escaped Tartarus. You have no business here, and no chance to live."

Nico drew his sword-three feet of wicked sharp Stygian iron, black as a nightmare. "I don't agree."

The ground rumbled. Cracks appeared in the road, the sidewalks, and the sides of the buildings. Skeletal hands grasped the air as the dead clawed their way into the world of the living. There were thousands of them, and as they emerged, the Titan's monsters got jumpy and started to back up.

"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Kronos demanded. "The dead are no match for us."

The sky turned dark and cold. Shadows thickened. A harsh war horn sounded, and as the dead soldiers formed up ranks with their guns and swords and spears, an enormous chariot roared down Fifth Avenue. It came to a stop next to Nico. The horses were living shadows, fashioned from darkness. The chariot was inlaid with obsidian and gold, decorated with scenes of painful death. Holding the reins was Hades himself, Lord of the Dead, with Demeter and Persephone riding behind him.

Hades wore black armor and a cloak the color of fresh blood. On top of his pale head was the helm of darkness: a crown that radiated pure terror. It changed shape as everyone watched-from a dragon's head to a circle of black flames to a wreath of human bones. But that wasn't the scary part. The helm reached into the minds of everyone in the area and showed them their worst fears. Only Kronos's power and authority kept his ranks from fleeing.

Hades smiled coldly. "Hello, Father. You're looking…young."

"Hades," Kronos growled. "I hope you and the ladies have come to pledge your allegiance."

"I'm afraid not." Hades sighed. "My son here convinced me that perhaps I should prioritize my list of enemies." He glared at Percy with distaste. "As much as I dislike certain _upstart_ demigods, it would not do for Olympus to fall. I would miss bickering with my siblings. And if there is one thing we agree on-it was that you were a TERRIBLE father."

"True," muttered Demeter. "No appreciation of agriculture."

"Mother!" Persephone complained.

Hades drew his sword, a double-edged Stygian blade etched with silver. "Now fight me! For today the House of Hades will be called the saviors of Olympus."

"I don't have time for this," Kronos snarled.

He struck the ground with his scythe. A crack spread in both directions, circling the Empire State Building. A wall of force shimmered along the fissure line, separating Kronos's vanguard, and the Olympian defenders, from the bulk of the two armies.

The only good thing was that all the force shook Danielle awake. She was blinking and looking around frantically, feeling a huge headache from when she had slammed into the wall. "What's going on?"

Thalia, relived that she was alive and awake, said, "sealing us in. He's collapsing the magic barriers around Manhattan-cutting off just the building, and us."

Danielle nodded, watching everything. Outside of the barrier, car engines revved to life. Pedestrians woke up and stared uncomprehendingly at the monsters and skeletons all around them. No telling what they saw through the Mist, but it was clear that it was probably scary. Car doors opened. At the end of the block, Percy recognized two the people getting out of their car.

"No," he said. "Don't…"

Percy's mother could see through the Mist. Her expression was that she understood how serious things were. She locked eyes on Percy, said something to Percy's stepfather, and then ran right toward them.

Percy couldn't even call out. The last thing anyone needed was to bring Kronos's attention to them.

Fortunately, Hades caused a distraction. He charged at the wall of force, but his chariot crashed against it and overturned. He got to his feet, cursing, and blasted the wall with black energy. The barrier held.

"ATTACK!" he roared.

The armies of the dead clashed with the Titan's monsters. Fifth Avenue exploded into absolute chaos. Mortals screamed and ran for cover. Demeter waved her hand and an entire column of giants turned into a wheat field. Persephone changed the dracaenae's spears into sunflowers. Nico slashed and hacked his way through the enemy, trying to protect the pedestrians as best he could. Percy's parents were running towards him, dodging monsters and skeletons, but there was nothing anyone could do to help them.

"Nakamura," Kronos said to Ethan. "Attend me. Giants-deal with them."

He pointed to the new Olympian defenders, looking slightly surprised that Danielle was alive. Then he ducked into the lobby.

For a second, they were stunned. Kronos had completely ignored them like they weren't worth the trouble.

The first Hyperborian giant smashed at Percy with his club. He rolled under his legs and stabbed Riptide into his backside. He shattered into a pile of ice shards. The second giant breathed frost at Annabeth, who was barely able to stand, but Grover pulled her out of the way while Thalia and Danielle went to work. While Danielle fired one of her last arrows at the giant to distract him, Thalia sprinted up the giant's back like a gazelle, slicing her hunting knives across the monstrous blue neck, creating the world's largest headless ice sculpture.

Glancing out of the magical barrier, Nico was fighting his way toward Percy's parents, but they weren't waiting for help. Percy's stepfather grabbed a sword from a fallen hero and did a pretty good job in keeping a dracaena busy. He stabbed her in the gut and she disintegrated.

"Paul?" asked Percy in amazement.

He turned to Percy and grinned. "I hope that was a monster I just killed. I was a Shakespearian actor in college! Picked up a bit of swordplay!"

Meanwhile, a Laistrygonian giant was charging at Percy's mom. She was rummaging in a police car-maybe looking for the emergency radio-and her back was turned.

"Mom!"

She whirled around and when the monster was almost on top of her. She cranked the pump of the shotgun she had grabbed and blew the giant twenty feet backward, right into Nico's sword

"Nice one," said Paul.

"When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" Percy demanded.

Sally Jackson blew the hair out of her face. "About two seconds ago. Percy, we'll be fine. GO!"

"Yeah," said Nico. "We'll handle the army. You have to get Kronos!"

"Come on, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said. Percy nodded and they looked at the rubble pile on the side of the building. Chiron was still under there.

"Mrs. O'Leary," the giant dog ran up to Percy. "Please, Chiron's under there. If anyone can dig him out, you can. Find him! Help him!"

No one was sure how much the giant hellhound understood but she ran toward the rubble pile and started to dig. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Grover and Danielle all ran to the elevator.

The elevator had to take several minutes to get to the top so unfortunately; they had some time before they could fight Kronos. None of them liked the idea of the Titan lord running rampant around Olympus.

"So," said Thalia, who was trying to distract herself from the awful music from the speakers. "Danielle, how are you alive after that blow?"

When everyone turned to look at her, she shrugged. "I'm not sure but I think I did subconsciously. You see, magical's are capable of bouts of 'accidental' magic when we are panicked or scared. It starts when we're really young but usually stops when we begin how to use our powers. The last thing I remember before blacking out is magic coming out of me as some sort of shield before I crashed."

Annabeth nodded, "interesting. I would guess that your magic cushioned the blow so it looked much worse than it was. But if it is done subconsciously, than I wouldn't rely on it."

"No worries, I have no intentions of letting another Titan slam me into another wall." In truth, it had hurt like Hades but at least her magic had saved her life. Of course, it could have done anything to save her. She was just lucky it hadn't turned her into a cockroach to avoid the blow.

When the elevator doors dinged open, they saw how bad things were getting. The bridge to Olympus was dissolving. When they stepped onto the white marble walkway, cracks appeared at their feet.

"Jump!" yelled Grover, which was easy for him, he was part mountain goat.

He sprang to the next slab of stone while the one the others were on tilted sickeningly.

"Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia yelled as she and Percy leaped. Annabeth was in no mood for jumping so Danielle was forced to levitate her over, draining her magic more than she would have liked, before jumping herself.

"Keep moving!" Grover tugged at Percy's shoulder. As they sprinted across the sky bridge the more stones disintegrated and fell into oblivion. When they made it to the edge of the mountain, the final section collapsed.

Looking back at the elevator, they saw it wasn't connected to anything anymore-a polished set of metal doors hanging in space, six hundred stories above Manhattan.

"We're marooned," Annabeth said. "On our own."

"We'll worry about that after we beat Kronos," said Danielle. "The gods will restore it after we win."

Grover nodded, "we better hurry. The connection between Olympus and America is dissolving. If it fails-"

"The gods won't move on to another country this time," said Thalia. "This will be the end of Olympus. The final end."

They ran through the streets. Mansions were burning. Statues had been hacked down. Trees in the parks were blasted to splinters. It looked like someone had attacked the city with a weedwacker.

"Kronos's scythe," said Percy.

They followed up the winding road to the palace of the gods. The whole mountaintop was in ruins-so many beautiful buildings and gardens gone.

A few minor gods and nature spirits were lying in the streets, clearly failed in trying to stop Kronos. What remained of them included ripped clothing, shattered armor, broken swords and spears.

Somewhere ahead of them came Kronos's roar: "Brick by brick! That was my promise! Tear it down BRICK BY BRICK!"

A white marble temple with a gold dome suddenly exploded. The dome shot up like the lid in a teapot and shattered into a billion pieces, raining rubble over the city.

"That was a shrine to Artemis," Thalia grumbled.

"He's going to pay for that," Danielle snarled.

They ran under an archway with the huge statues of Zeus and Hera when the entire mountain groaned, rocking sideways like a boat in a storm.

"Look out!" Grover yelped. The archway crumbled. They looked up just in time to see a twenty-ton scowling Hera topple over on them. Annabeth and Percy would have been flattened, but it stopped falling just in time. Looking around, they saw Danielle on her knees, her hands out and fueling as much magic into levitating the statue as possible.

"Danielle!" Thalia was close to pushing Percy and Annabeth out of the way on her own.

"Move!" Danielle moaned, sweat beaded her face, "I can't keep it up forever!" Indeed, they were just staring at her while she was stopping the Hera statue from falling on them.

They quickly moved out of the way and she stopped the spell, the statue falling to the ground with a huge boom. Danielle was now drenched in sweat, her expression pained as she got up to face her friends. "Got enough…magic for…one more spell…maybe," she wheezed. "We have to run."

She was litteraly reaching the end of her limits now. She wasn't kidding when she said she might have enough for one more spell. Her bracelet was drained, her magical core was almost at empty and she was just plain exhausted.

A fireball erupted on the side of the mountain, right near the gates of the palace.

"Let's go," said Percy as he and the others sprinted to the throne room, Danielle staggering a bit before running after them as well.

XXXXX

The doors of the palace were big enough to steer a cruise ship through, but they had been ripped off their hinges and smashed like they had weighed nothing. They had to climb over the huge pile of broken stone and twisted metal to get inside.

Kronos stood in the middle of the throne room, his arms wide, staring at the starry ceiling as if taking it all in. His laughter echoed throughout out the entire room.

"Finally!" he bellowed. "The Olympian Council-so proud and mighty. Which seat of power shall I destroy first?"

Ethan stood to the side, trying to stay out of the way of his master's scythe. The hearth was almost dead, just a few coals glowing deep in the ashes. Hestia was nowhere to be seen. Neither was anyone else that had run to Olympus to safety. The Ophiotaurus swam in his water sphere in the far corner of the room, wisely not making a sound, but it wouldn't be long before Kronos noticed him.

Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Danielle and Grover stepped into the torchlight. Ethan saw them first.

"My lord," he warned.

Kronos turned and smiled through Luke's face. Except for the golden eyes, he looked just as he had when Danielle had seen him last, attacking Thalia on Mount Orthyus. Annabeth made a painful sound in the back of her throat, like someone had just sucker punched her.

"Shall I destroy you first, Jackson?" Kronos asked. "Is that the choice you will make-to fight me and die instead of bowing down? Prophecies never end well, you know."

"Luke would fight me with a sword," Percy said. "But I suppose you don't have his skill."

Kronos sneered. His scythe began to change, until he held a large sword. Half steel, half Celestrial bronze; capable of killing both mortals and immortals.

Next to Percy, Annabeth gasped like she'd suddenly had an idea. "Percy, the blade!" She unsheathed her knife. "_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_."

Thalia looked interested as she looked at Annabeth's knife. "Wait, is that the same knife that Luke gave you all those years ago?"

That sounded important but they had no chance to act on anything at the moment. Kronos raised his sword.

"Wait!" Annabeth yelled.

Kronos came at Percy like a whirlwind.

Percy dodged, slashed and rolled, but Kronos was everywhere. Thalia jumped in with her own spear and added her attacks to the Titan, but even with them working together, they were only just barely able to hold them off. Ethan ducked to one side, trying to get behind them, but Annabeth and Danielle intercepted him. The two girls started attacking the son of Nemesis but it was clear why he was an important warrior in Kronos's ranks, managing to handle them two on one. Grover was playing his reed pipes in the background. The sound filled them with warmth and courage, thoughts of sunlight and a blue sky and a calm meadow, somewhere far away from the war. Danielle would have to ask him later if he had ever met a phoenix since that is what their songs could do as well.

Kronos backed both children of the big three against the throne of Hephaestus-a huge mechanical La-Z-Boy type thing covered with bronze and silver gears. Kronos slashed, Thalia ducked under the blow while Percy managed to jump straight into the seat. The throne whirred and hummed with secret mechanisms. _Defense mode_, it warned, _Defense mode_.

That couldn't be good. Percy jumped again, straight over Kronos's head as the throne shot tendrils of electricity in all directions. One hit Kronos in the face, arcing down his body and up his sword.

"ARG!" He crumpled to his knees and dropped his sword.

Annabeth saw her chance. She kicked Ethan toward Danielle, who disarmed him easily and had her knives under his chin, and ran toward Kronos, "Luke, listen!"

It looked like both Percy and Thalia wanted to tell her that Luke was gone and there was nothing but Kronos left but they didn't get the chance. Kronos flicked his hand. Annabeth flew backward, slamming into the throne of her mother and crumpling to the floor.

"Annabeth!" Percy shouted.

Ethan tried to get to his feet but was cornered by Danielle, glaring hatefully at him.

Grover's music took on a more urgent tone. He moved toward Annabeth but he couldn't go any faster and keep up the song. Grass grew on the floor of the floor of the throne room. Tiny roots crept up between the cracks of the marble stones.

Kronos rose to one knee. His face hair smoldered. His face was covered in electrical burns. He reached for his sword, but it didn't fly into his hands.

Thalia saw her chance while Percy was still undecided on what he wanted to do. Taking time to charge her spear with lightning, she charged at Kronos and made to stab him in the chest, but Kronos had apparently seen it coming and closed his hands around the point, shrugging off the lightning as it coursed through his body.

"Nakamura!" he groaned as he used brute strength to send Thalia flying across the room, making her slam her head against the side of the hearth. "Time to prove yourself. You know Jackson's secret weakness. Kill him and the Hunter, and you will have rewards beyond measure."

Ethan's eye, trying to keep its focus on the knife being pointed at him, trailed over to Percy's midsection. With a mighty effort that no one saw coming, Ethan managed to knock the blade away and spun on his knees, his other leg outstretched. Danielle was sent crashing to the ground as her legs were knocked out from under her.

Quickly standing, Ethan grabbed his sword and held it to Danielle's throat, their positions reversing. He hesitated though, she hadn't killed him for some reason so he didn't want to do the same thing she could have.

"Look around you Ethan," Percy said. "The end of the world. Is this the reward you want? Do you really want everything destroyed-the good with the bad? _Everything?_"

Grover was almost to Annabeth now. The grass thickened on the floor. The roots were almost a foot long, like stubble of whiskers.

"There is no throne to Nemesis," Ethan muttered, still holding the sword at Danielle's throat, her other hand holding her hair so she couldn't move. "No throne to my mother."

"That's right!" Kronos was trying to stand but stumbled. Above his left ear, a patch of blond hair still smoldered. "Strike them down! They deserve to suffer."

"Be true to your mother, Ethan," Danielle was managed to choke out. She took a deep breath as well as she could. "Nemesis stands for balance. What is balance if all of western civilization is destroyed though? The minor gods deserve better but they won't get that under Kronos. Total destruction is the only thing Kronos can do, not build anything up."

Ethan looked at the sizzling throne of Hephaestus. Grover's music kept playing, and Ethan swayed to it, as if the job were filling him with nostalgia-a wish to see a beautiful day, to be anywhere but here. His good eye blinked.

He then charged, dropping Danielle…but not at Percy, Thalia, or even Annabeth and Grover.

While Kronos was still on his knees, Ethan tried to do what Thalia had done a moment before, aiming at his neck instead of his chest though. It should have killed him instantly, but the blade shattered. Ethan fell back, grasping his stomach. A shard of his own blade had ricocheted and pierced his armor.

Kronos rose unsteadily, towering over his servant. "Treason," he snarled.

Grover's music kept playing, and grass grew around Ethan's body. Ethan looked back at Percy, his face tight with pain.

"Deserve better," he gasped. "If they just…had thrones-"

Kronos stomped his foot, and the floor ruptured around Ethan Nakamura. The son of Nemesis fell through a fissure that went straight through the heart of the mountain-straight into open air.

"So much for him." Kronos picked up his sword. "And now, for the rest of you."

XXXXX

Grover was at Annabeth's side now. He had stopped playing and was feeding her ambrosia. Thalia was still passed out beside the hearth. Danielle was dry heaving on the floor, trying to recover from the sword that had been digging into her throat.

Everywhere that Kronos stepped, the roots wrapped around his feet, but Grover had stopped the music too early. The roots weren't thick or strong enough to do much more than annoy the Titan.

Percy and Kronos were trying to kill each other; blades dancing around each other but neither were doing any good against the other. They fought through the hearth, kicking up coals and sparks. Kronos slashed through an armrest off of the throne of Ares, then backed up against Poseidon's.

"Oh, yes," Kronos said. "This one will make fine kindling for my new hearth!"

Their blades clashed in a shower of sparks. Kronos was stronger, but Percy got a small surge of energy from his father's throne and pushed back and struck again-slashing Riptide across his breastplate so hard he cut a gash in the Celestrial bronze.

Kronos stamped his foot again and time slowed. Percy tried to strike again but he was moving at the speed of a glacier. Kronos backed up leisurely, catching his breath. He examined the gash in his armor with slight interest while Percy struggled forward, silently cursing him. He could take all the time-outs he wanted. Their only hope was that it was draining him. If they could wear him down…

"It's too late, Percy Jackson," he said. "Behold."

He pointed to the hearth, and the coals glowed. A sheet of white smoke poured from the fire, forming images like an Iris-Message. It showed Nico and Percy's parents down on Fifth Avenue, fighting a hopeless battle, ringed in enemies. In the background Hades fought from his black chariot, summoning wave after wave of skeletons out of the ground, but the forces of the Titan's army seemed just as endless. Meanwhile, Manhattan was being destroyed. Mortals, now fully awake, were running in terror. Cars swerved and crashed.

The scene shifted, and the scene was even more terrifying.

A column of storm was approaching the Hudson River, moving rapidly over the Jersey shore. Chariots circled it, locked in combat with the creature in the cloud.

The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud like rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly, the cloud ripped apart, and Typhon was shown clearly for the first time.

Danielle, who was looking up and at the scene, would never get the image out of her mind no matter how long she lived. Typhon's head shifted constantly. Every moment he was a different monster, each more horrible than the last. Looking at his face would have driven her insane, so she focused on his body, which wasn't much better. He was humanoid, but his skin mottled green, with blisters the size of buildings, and blackened from eons of being stuck under a volcano. His hands were human, but with talons like an eagle's. His legs were scaly and reptilian.

"The Olympians are giving their final effort." Kronos laughed. "How pathetic."

Danielle glared at him for the slight against lady Artemis but he was too busy watching to notice. Zeus threw his lightning bolt from his chariot. The blast lit up the world. The shock could be felt event there on Olympus, but when the dust cleared, Typhon was still standing. He staggered a bit, a smoking crater on top of his misshapen head, but he roared in anger and kept advancing.

Typhon stepped into the Hudson River and barely sunk to midcalf.

What no one but Percy could possibly expect was a conch horn sounding from the smoky picture. The call of the ocean. The call of Poseidon.

All around Typhon, the Hudson River erupted, churning with forty-foot waves. Out of the water burst a new chariot-this one pulled by massive hippocampi, half fish and half horse, which swam in air as easily as in water. Poseidon himself, glowing with a blue aura of power, rode in defiant circles around the giant's legs. Poseidon looked young and powerful, a tan with a black beard. As he swung his trident, the river responded, making a funnel cloud around the monster.

"No!" Kronos bellowed after a moment of stunned silence. "NO!"

Thalia began to stir.

"NOW, MY BRETHERN!" Poseidon's voice was so loud, they weren't sure if his voice was coming from the smoke or all the way across town. "STRIKE FOR OLYMPUS!"

Warriors burst out of the river, riding the waves on a huge sharks and dragons and sea horses. It was a legion of Cyclopes, and leading them into battle was…

"Tyson!" Percy yelled.

The general of the Cyclops army was Percy's half brother Tyson. He'd magically grown in size from his normal six feet to about thirty feet, as big as any of his older cousins, and he was wearing full battle armor. Next to him was a Hundred-Handed one, an older relative of the Cyclopes that had a hundred hands.

All of the Cyclopes held huge lengths of black iron chains-big enough to anchor battleship-with grappling hooks at the ends. They swung them like lassos and began to ensnare Typhon, throwing lines around the creature's legs and arms, using the tide to keep circling, slowly tangling him. Typhon shook and roared and yanked at the chains; but there were too many chains. The sheer weight of the Cyclops battalion began to weigh Typhon down. Poseidon threw his trident and impaled the monster in the throat. Golden blood, immortal ichor, spewed from the wound, making a waterfall taller than a skyscraper. The Trident flew back to Poseidon's hand.

The other gods struck with renewed force. Ares rode in and stabbed Typhon in the nose. Artemis shot the monster in the eye with a dozen silver arrows. Apollo shot a blazing volley of arrows and set the monster's loincloth on fire. And Zeus kept pounding the giant with lightning, until finally, slowly, the water rose, wrapping Typhon like a cocoon, and he began to sink under the weight of the chains. Typhon bellowed in agony, thrashing with such force that waves sloshed the Jersey shore, soaking five-story buildings and splashing over the George Washington Bridge-but down he went as Poseidon opened a special tunnel for him at the bottom of the river-an endless waterslide that would take him straight to Tartarus. The giant's head went under in a seething whirlpool, and he was gone.

"BAH!" Kronos screamed. He slashed his sword through the smoke, tearing the image to shreds.

"They're on their way," said Percy. "You've lost."

"I haven't even started."

He advanced with blinding speed. Grover-brave, stupid satyr that he was-tried to protect him, but Kronos tossed him aside like a rag doll.

Danielle had managed to get some of her breath back after that show with Typhon and used a water spell, dousing both Percy and Kronos in a strong steam of water. While it didn't do anything against Kronos, it invigorated Percy enough to keep fighting with new strength.

Thalia, now awake, channeled electricity through her spear again and used the soaked Kronos as a conductor and shot the Titan with the high power voltage attack. Kronos struggled against both demigods' attacks but somehow managed to disarm Percy, his sword clattering away with a simple disarming maneuver. Riptide fell through the open fissure and out of sight.

With Percy temporarily out of the fight, Thalia made Kronos focus on her. Her spear and shield making complicated moves that almost broke through the Titan's guard but Kronos held strong. He blocked the shaft of her spear just as she was about to skewer him and knocked it out of her hand.

Kronos then suddenly felt warm and turned around only to find that Danielle had used her last trick. With both Percy and Thalia weaponless, Danielle had used the last of her magic to conjure a fire whip, the same she had used against the skeletons about a year and a half ago, and had wrapped it around the Titan. Kronos found himself unable to move as his arms were pinned against his sides by the length of flames.

"I don't think so."

Kronos channeled his own power and sent out a shockwave that not only knocked Danielle off of her feet and into a nearby throne, but also Thalia. The daughter of Zeus had finally weakened enough to crash into her father's throne of solid platinum. Not a good landing for either of them.

"STOP!" Annabeth came from nowhere.

Kronos, his armor now smoking and partially melted, whirled around and slashed with his sword. Somehow, she managed to catch the strike on her dagger hilt. It was a move only the fastest and most skilled knife fighter could've managed. Finding the strength from somewhere, she moved closer for leverage, their blades crossed, and for a moment she stood face-to-face with the Titan lord, holding him at a standstill.

"Luke," she said, gritting her teeth, "I understand now. You have to trust me."

Kronos roared in outrage. "Luke Castellan is dead! His body will burn away when I assume my true form!"

Percy tried to move but he was frozen in time again.

Kronos pushed against her, trying to dislodge his blade, but she held him in check, her arms trembling as he forced his sword down toward her neck.

"Your mother," Annabeth grunted. "She saw your fate."

"Service to Kronos!" the Titan roared. "This is my fate."

"No!" Annabeth insisted. Her eyes were tearing up, but it was impossible to see if that was from sadness or pain. "That's not the end, Luke. The prophecy: she saw what you would do. It applies to you!"

"I will crush you, child!" Kronos bellowed.

"You won't," Annabeth said. "You promised. You're holding Kronos back even now."

"LIES!" Kronos pushed again, and this time Annabeth lost her balance. With his free hand, Kronos struck her face, and she slid backward.

Percy tried to break the time spell, but it was like fighting against the weight of the sky again.

Kronos loomed over Annabeth, his sword drawn.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She croaked, "Family, Luke. You promised."

Percy took a painful step forward. Grover was back on his feet, over by the throne of Hera, but he seemed to be struggling to move as well. Thalia was still knocked out and Danielle had passed out from both lack of energy and her injuries. Before anyone could move anywhere close to Annabeth, Kronos staggered.

He stared at the knife in Annabeth's hand, the blood on her face. "_Promise_."

Then he gasped like he couldn't get enough air. "Annabeth…" But it wasn't the Titan's voice. It was Luke's. He stumbled forward like he couldn't control his own body. "You're bleeding…"

"My knife." Annabeth tried to raise her dagger, but it clattered out of her hand. Her arm was bent at a strange angle. She looked at Percy, imploring, "Percy, please…"

Percy suddenly realized he could move again.

He surged forward and scooped up her knife. He knocked Kronos's sword out of Luke's hand, and it spun into the hearth. Luke hardly paid him any attention. He stepped toward Annabeth, but Percy put himself between her and Luke.

"Don't touch her," he said.

Anger rippled across his face. Kronos's voice growled, "Jackson…" He was so angry that his entire body was glowing gold.

He gasped again. Luke's voice: "He's changing. Help. He's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please-"

"NO!" Kronos bellowed. He looked around for his sword, but it was in the hearth, glowing among the coals.

He stumbled toward it. Percy tried to stop him but he just pushed him out of the way with such force that he went flying toward Annabeth and cracked his head against Athena's throne.

"The knife, Percy," Annabeth muttered. Her breathing was shallow. "Hero…cursed blade…"

Kronos had managed to grasp his sword. Then he bellowed in pain and dropped it. His hands were smoking and seared. The hearth fire had glowed red-hot, like the scythe wasn't compatible with it. An image of Hestia flickered in the ashes, frowning at Kronos with disapproval.

Kronos suddenly howled. "My throne! Who would dare-?"

Before anyone could figure out what that meant, Luke turned and collapsed, clutching his ruined hands. "Please, Percy…"

Percy struggled to his feet. Moving toward him with the knife. The plan was to kill him.

Luke seemed to know what he was thinking. He moistened his lips. "You can't…can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can…can keep him controlled."

He was definitely glowing now; his skin was starting to smoke.

Percy raised the knife to strike. Then he looked at Annabeth, at Grover cradling her in his arms, trying to shield her. At Thalia, who was laying unconscious by her father's throne. At Danielle who was at the other end of the throne room, passed out with a small trickle of red coming from her head and onto the floor. He suddenly realized what he had to do.

"_You are not the hero_," Rachel had said. "_It will affect what you do_."

"Please," Luke groaned. "No time."

If Kronos evolved into his true form, there would be no stopping him. He would make Typhon look like a playground bully.

The line from the great Prophecy made sense. _'A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.'_ Percy took in a breath, and then handed the knife to Luke.

Grover yelped. "Percy? Are you…um…"

Crazy. Insane. Off his rocker. Probably.

Everyone watched as Luke took the hilt.

Percy was defenseless.

Luke unlatched the side straps of his armor, exposing a small bit of skin just under his left arm, a place that would be very hard to hit. With difficulty, he stabbed himself.

It wasn't a deep cut, but Luke howled. His eyes glowed like lava. The throne room shook, throwing Percy off his feet. An aura of energy surrounded Luke, growing brighter and brighter. Percy, Annabeth and Grover had to close their eyes at what felt like a nuclear explosion.

It was silent for a long time.

When everything died down, Luke was sprawled at the hearth. On the floor around him was a blackened circle of ash. Kronos's scythe had liquefied into molten metal and was trickling into the coals of the hearth, which now glowed like a blacksmith's furnace.

Luke's left side was bloody. His eyes were open-blue eyes, the way they used to be. His breath was a deep rattle.

"Good…blade," he croaked.

The explosion had also done its best to wake Thalia, who was now looking at Luke in disbelief before making her way over to him. Percy was kneeling next to him while Annabeth limped over with Grover's support. All the girls and Grover had tears in their eyes.

Luke gazed at Thalia. "Thals, I'm sorry for everything. I know that doesn't forgive me but-"

Thalia shook her head. "Luke, you were the brother I never had. You had my back for years. It might have worked out between us but…I'm happy where I'm at right now. Just know that you are a hero, to the end."

Luke nodded slowly and looked at Annabeth. "You knew. I almost killed you, but you knew…"

"Shh," Annabeth soothed him, her voice trembled. "You _were_ a hero, Luke. You'll go to Elysium."

He shook his head weakly. "Think…rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the Blest."

Annabeth sniffed. "You always did push yourself too hard."

He held up his charred hand. Annabeth touched his fingertips.

"Did you…" Luke coughed and his lips glistened red. "Did you love me?"

Annabeth wiped her tears away. "There was a time I thought…well, I thought…" She looked at Thalia, who smiled understandingly. Then at Percy, as if drinking in the fact that he was still there. Percy was doing the same thing. The world was collapsing and the only important thing that mattered to them both was that the other was alive.

"You were a brother to me, Luke," she said softly. "Just like Thalia. But I didn't love you."

He nodded, like he had been expecting that. He winced in pain.

"We can get ambrosia." Grover said. "We can-"

"Grover," Luke gulped. "You're the bravest satyr I ever knew. But no. There's no healing…" Another cough.

He gripped Percy's sleeve. "Ethan. Me. All of the unclaimed. Don't let it…don't let it happen again."

His eyes were angry, but pleading too.

"I won't," Percy said. "I promise."

Luke nodded. "Thalia, apologize for me for that other Hunter and all the others I hurt. I…" He shuddered, and his hand went slack.

The gods arrived a few minutes later in their full war regalia, thundering into the throne room and expecting a battle.

What they found were Annabeth, Percy, Grover and Thalia kneeling over the body of a broken demigod, in the dim warm light of the hearth.

"Percy," said Poseidon, his voice in awe. "What…what is this?"

Percy turned to face the Olympians.

"We need a shroud," he announced, his voice breaking. "A shroud for the son of Hermes."

**Whew, that was a long chapter. Only a little more to go and then I can move on from Cannon and get into the good stuff, Magical Britain! Voldemort is going down! Who knows, will I simply destroy him, or make Danielle send him to Pigfarts? Decisions, decisions. The good thing is that I already have 90% of the next chapter done now so it should only take a little time to finish it up. After that, who knows?**

**Read long and prosper, young people.**


	7. Rewards and Voldemort part 1

**And I am back again baby! This time with a new chapter! Okay, I know it's been a while but it is sooner than I thought it would be, right? I thought the next time I would be able to write again would be in October. Just so you know, this story is going to go into some darker elements but it's kind of needed against a twisted guy like Voldemort.**

**On an unrelated note, not one of you managed to guess the reference I hinted at in the sneak peek! For shame. I know it's an obscure song from a lesser known Disney movie but I thought that at least one person would come close!**

_**Portabello Road, Portabello Road,**_

_**Street where the riches of ages are **_**_stowed._**

**_Anything and everything a shop can unload,_**

**_Can be sold off the barrel at Portabello Road._**

**No one got that? If anyone can at least guess the movie than I'll give you a virtual gold star.**

**On with the story!**

The Three Fates themselves took Luke's body away.

They gathered up Luke's body, now wrapped in a white and green shroud, and began carrying it out of the throne room.

"Wait," Hermes said.

The messenger god was dressed in his classic outfit of white Greek robes, sandals, and helmet. The wings of his helm fluttered as he walked. The snakes George and Martha curled around his caduceus, murmuring, _Luke, poor Luke_.

Percy thought about May Castellan, alone in her kitchen, baking cookies and making sandwiches for a son who would never come home.

Hermes unwrapped Luke's face and kissed his forehead. He murmured some words in Ancient Greek-a final blessing.

"Farewell," he whispered. Then he nodded and allowed the Fates to carry away his son's body.

As they left, Percy thought about the Great Prophecy. The lines now made sense. _'The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.'_ The hero was Luke. The cursed blade was the knife he'd given Annabeth long ago-cursed because Luke had broken his promise and betrayed his friends. _'A single choice shall end his days._' Percy's choice to give Luke the dagger, and to believe, as Annabeth had, that he was still capable of setting things right. '_Olympus to preserve or raze.'_ By sacrificing himself, he had saved Olympus. Rachel was right. In the end, Percy wasn't the hero. Luke was.

When Luke had made the choice to bathe in the River Styx to gain the curse of Achillies, he had to pick a mortal memory or person to anchor his life to. Otherwise, he would have dissolved in the River. There was a very good chance that he had seen Annabeth. She, along with Thalia, as they explored the country, taking down monsters and promising that they would be one big family. Hurting Annabeth must have shocked him into remembering his mortal connection. It had allowed him to retake control of his body and defeat Kronos. His weak point, his Achilles heel, had saved them all.

Next to Percy, Annabeth's knees buckled. He caught her, but she cried out in pain, realizing that he had grabbed her broken arm.

"Oh gods, Annabeth, I'm sorry."

"It's alright," she said as she passed out in his arms.

"She needs help!" Percy yelled.

"I've got this." Apollo stepped forward. His fiery armor was so bright, it was hard to look at, and his matching Ray Bans and perfect smile made him look like a male model for battle gear. "God of medicine, at your service."

He looked over at his sister before getting to work however and his good mood slipped a little. Artemis was healing Danielle's wounds. The goddess of the moon was accompanied by Thalia and was using her own godly powers to channel healing magic into the red headed Hunter's wounds.

He sighed slightly and got to work on the daughter of Athena. He passed a hand over Annabeth's face and spoke an incantation. Immediately, the bruises vanished. Her cuts disappeared. Her arm straightened, and she smiled in her sleep.

Apollo grinned, though the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "She'll be fine in a few minutes. Just enough time for me to compose a poem about our victory: 'Apollo and his friends save Olympus.' Good, eh?"

"Thanks Apollo," said Percy. "But I think I'll let you handle the poetry,"

The god of the sun nodded and stood up, looking almost longingly at his sister with her two Hunters; Danielle was still asleep, before going off to help fix the place up.

The next few hours were a blur. Percy remembered his promise to his mother about sending a blue signal in the event that they had saved the day. Luckily, Zeus hadn't even batted an eyelash at the strange request. He just snapped his fingers and the top of the building turned blue. Percy had apparently decided with his mother that that would be the signal he would send her if they had won the battle.

The gods immediately started working on reparing the throne room, which took a very short time with twelve immortal beings working. Grover and Percy met up with the wounded when the sky bridge was reformed.

Standing in front of the crowd of wounded campers and Hunters was Elizabeth, smiling widely, who hugged her old friend Hestia before joining Artemis again. Danielle and Thalia were both heavily injured but the goddess of the moon ensured that they would both be fine in a few days. Danielle would take about a week to get back to full power after she had used up so much magic along with the beatings she had taken from the battles.

Percy found that most of friends had come out okay and only a few had sustained serious injuries. Mrs. O'Leary had dug Chiron out and had taken him to Camp. His parents were fine. A Demeter girl had told him that Rachel had been seen running out of the Empire State Building and no one knew where she had gone. She was apparently unhurt but Percy started getting worried about her.

Nico came in to a hero's welcome, his father being congradulated for facing off against Kronos. While Hades normally wasn't allowed on Olympus except for the Winter Solstice, Zeus had apparently forgiven him and was clapping him on the back, thanking him for his part in the war. Hades had looked surprised by his brother's words, he had hardly ever gotten such an enthusiastic welcome.

Clarisse marched in soon after, still shivering from her time in a block of ice.

When Ares saw her, he made for her at once. "That's my girl!" He ruffled her hair, calling her the greatest hero ever. "That drakon slaying? That's what I'm talking about!"

Clarisse just nodded numbly at her father's words, almost afraid he would hit her, but eventually began to smile.

Hephastus just strolled past Percy without looking at him. He was a little grumpy that Percy and Thalia jumped on his throne but muttered, "did a good job I suppose."

Hera however went for Artemis, who was standing guard over both Danielle and Thalia. The queen of the gods looked slightly miffed at seeing the daughter of Zeus but did look almost concerned for the red headed Hunter, who was still unconscious.

"Artemis."

The goddess of the Hunt looked to see her stepmother standing behind her. She tensed and almost reached for her bow but stopped herself just in time. It was no secret that she and Hera had a very strained relationship, starting when the queen had insisted on her and Apollo's mother's banishment for eternity.

"Yes, lady Hera," said Aretmis coolly but still somewhat respectfully, "may I help you?"

Hera looked between her and the two Hunters, Thalia looking apprehensive as well. "I would merely like to thank Danielle for her hard work for Olympus. If you would pass the message along."

Artemis nodded, still not forgiving her for the milienia of being on the receiving end of a cold shoulder.

Hera turned back to her throne, leaving them alone.

Dionysus meanwhile was inspecting his throne, his head wrapped in a bandage. He looked at Percy, "Well, Percy Jackson, my son Pollux is still around so I suppose you are not completely inept. Guess it was all of those teachings I gave you."

Percy just nodded, mentally rolling his eyes. "Uh, yes sir."

Mr. D nodded. "Thanks to my efforts in the war, Lord Zeus is cutting my time at that miserable camp in half. Now I only have to suffer fifty years there instead of one hundred."

"Fifty years, huh?" Percy tried to imagine training with Mr. D until he was an old man, assuming he lived that long.

"Don't be so excited, Jackson," said Mr. D, Percy realizing that he was saying his name correctly, "I still plan on making your life miserable. Just so we understand each other." He then repaired a grape vine that had caught fire in the battle.

Grover stayed by Percy's side but every now and then he would break into tears. "So many nature spirits dead Percy. So many."

Percy put an arm around Grover's shoulder as his friend blew his nose. "You did a good job G-man, and we WILL come back from this. We'll plant new trees. Clean up parks. Your friends will be reincarnated into a better world."

He sniffed dejectedly. "I…I suppose. But it was hard for the nature spirits to listen to me before. I'm still an outcast. I could barely get anyone to listen to me before when I told them about Pan. Now will anyone listen to me? I led them into a slaughter."

"They'll listen," Percy promised. "Because you care. You care more about the Wild than anyone."

He tried for a smile. "Thanks Percy…I hope you know that I'm really proud to be your friend."

Percy patted his arm. "Luke was right about one thing G-man, you really are the bravest satyr ever."

He blushed, but before he could say anything a conch horn blew. The army of Poseidon marched into the throne room.

"Percy!" yelled Tyson as he ran forward to give his brother a hug. Thankfully, he shrank down to his normal size so Percy felt like he was hit by a tractor and not the entire farm.

"You are not dead!" Tyson yelled.

"Yeah, amazing huh?"

Tyson laughed and clapped his hands,"I am not dead either! Yay! We chained up Typhon, that was fun!"

Behind him, about fifty armed Cyclopses laughed and gave each other high-fives.

"Tyson led us," one rumbled. "He is brave."

"Bravest of all the Cyclopses!" another one yelled.

Tyson blushed. "Was nothing."

"I saw you!" said Percy. "You were amazing!"

By now, Grover looked ready to pass out, he was deadly afraid of Cyclopses. He steeled his nerves however. "Ah, yes. Three cheers for Tyson."

In a smaller voice, he mumbled, "please don't eat me." It was doubtful that anyone other than Percy heard him though.

The conch horns blew again. The Cyclopses parted and Poseidon came walking into the throne room in his armor, his trident glowing in his hand.

"Tyson," he roared. "Well done, my son. And Percy-" His expression turned more serious and he wagged a finger at him, making Percy afraid that his father was going to zap him.

"I even forgive you for sitting on my throne. You have saved Olympus!"

He raised his arms and pulled Percy into a hug. Percy blinked, realizing that he had never gotten a hug from his father before. So caught up in all of the emotions he had been feeling over the last few days that he teared up a little.

"Dad-"

"Percy," said Poseidon, looking him in the face. "Remember that no hero is above fear. And you have risen above every hero. Why, even Heracles-"

Poseidon was cut off when Danielle suddenly jumped to her feet, her hand on her knife, looking around wildly. "Heracles! Where is he? He'll pay for what he did!"

She suddenly realized where she was and that the battle was clearly over, if the presense of all the gods in the throne room looking at her was any indication. She sheepishly put away her knife, her face red, and tried to hide behind Artemis, completely embarrassed.

Zeus cleared his throat, clearly annoyed. "Poseidon, if you not too proud, would you get to your throne so we can start our council meeting." The king of the gods's words clearly indicated that he expected to be obeyed.

All of the gods were now seated on their thrones, even Hades since he had helped protect Olympus was sitting on his guest throne. Nico was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him, a smile on his face.

Posiedon winked at Percy. "I would be honored, Lord Zeus."

He calmly grew to his full godly height and sat on his fisherman chair that he used as a throne.

Danielle was sitting next to Thalia in front of lady Artemis's throne and was being filled in on the end of the battle. The last thing the magical Hunter remembered was hitting her head after her fire whip spell. She was certainly surprised that Luke had chosen to finish Kronos off himself, especially with Annabeth's knife. What made her curious however was the fact that Luke apparently didn't get full control of his body until Kronos yelled something about his throne. What did that mean? Kronos's throne was at Mount Othyus, in California. No one from Camp Half-blood was anywhere near there.

She was brought out of her musing when Zeus finally ended his rather boring speech about the bravery of the gods and heroes that had fought for Olympus. Annabeth had walked in near the end and was talking to Percy and Grover quietly. Hera glaring at the daughter of Athena the entire time.

"As for my brothers," Zeus said. "We are thankful-" he cleared his throat, like the words were hard to get out. "Erm, thankful for the aid of Hades."

Hades smiled, looking pretty smug with himself. Of course, after his part in the battle, he had earned the right. He ruffled Nico's hair, who looked happier than anyone had ever seen him.

"And of course," Zeus continued, who looked like his pants were smouldering. "We, ah, must…thank Posiedon."

"I'm sorry, brother," said Posiedon. "What did you say?"

"We must thank Posiedon," Zeus growled. "Without whom…it would have been difficult-"

"Difficult?" asked Posiedon innocently.

"Impossible," Zeus said. "Impossible to defeat Typhon."

The gods murmmed their assent and banged their weapons in approval.

"Which leaves us," said Zeus. "With rewarding our demigod heroes for defending Olympus so well-even if there are some dents in my throne."

He called Thalia and Danielle first and promised to help fill out the Hunters ranks.

Artemis smiled. "You have done you two. You have made me proud, and the Hunters that fell will not be forgotten. They will achieve Elysium. I am sure."

She gave Hades a pointed look.

He shrugged. "Probably."

Artemis glared at him some more.

"Fine!" Hades surrendered. "I'll streamline their application process."

Thalia beamed with pride. She bowed to all the gods, even Hades and Hera, and then limped over to Artemis's side.

Danielle smiled, still exhausted. "Lady Artemis, can I ask for one thing? I think I need it after the war."

Artemis looked at her curiously, as did everyone else. "Of course my Hunter. What would that be?"

Danielle walked toward her and engulfed the twelve year goddess in a hug, in front of the entire council, and cryed on her shoulder for everyone she had lost since she joined the Hunt. For Zoe, Bianca, Jessica, and everyone else, even the ones she didn't know that well like Silena and Luke.

The goddess of the Hunt was completely surprised but smiled warmly and just gave the tired and drained Hunter the comfort she needed. Every one of the Hunters was like a daughter to her and over the centuries, she had developed a sense when one needed something like this.

After a few minutes, Danielle finally let go and smiled sadly at her lady. "Thank you, lady Artemis, that's all I needed after this war. I don't need anything else. Thank you for being such a good mother figure for me." She then walked over to Thalia and sat down next to her, needing that hug. It wasn't like Lily would have given her one when she was sad or depressed.

Zeus, not really having expecting anything like that, decided to continue with giving out the rewards. "Tyson, son of Posiedon."

Tyson looked nervous, but he walked forward and stood in front of the gods.

Zeus grunted. "Doesn't miss many meals, does he? Tyson, for your bravery, and for leading the cyclopses, you are appointed a general in the armies of Olympus. You shall henceforth lead your bretheren into war whenever required whenever required by the gods. And you shall have a new…um…what kind of weapon would you like? A sword? An axe?"

"Stick!" Tyson said, showing his broken club.

"Very well." Said Zeus. "We shall grant you a new, er, stick. The best stick that may be found."

"Hooray!" yelled Tyson as the other cyclopses cheered and pounded him on the back as he rejoined them.

"Grover Underwood of the Satrys!" Dionysus called.

Grover came forward nervously.

"Oh, stop chewing your shirt," Mr. D chided. "Honestly, I'm not going to blast you. For your bravery and sacrfice, blah, blah, blah, and since we have an unfortunate vacancy, the gods have seen fit to name you a member of the Council of Cloven Elders."

Grover collapsed on the spot.

"Oh, wonderful," Dionysus sighed as several naiads came forward to help Grover. "When he wakes up, tell him he is no longer an outcast, and that all satyrs, naiads and other spirits of nature will treat him as a lord of the Wild, with all rights, privileges and honors, blah, blah, blah. Now please, drag him off before he wakes up and starts groveling.

"FOOOOOD," Grover moaned as the nature spirits carried him away.

Elizabeth was the only one to glare at him as he left the throne room. Dionysus might have made him a lord of the Wild but he was not HER lord, thank you.

Athena called, "Annabeth Chase, my own daughter."

Annabeth squeezed Percy's arm before stepping forward and knelt at her mother's feet.

Athena smiled. "You, my daughter, you have exceeded all expectations. You have used your wits, your strength, and your courage to defend this city and our seat of power. It has come to our attention that Olympus is…well, trashed. The Titan lord did much damage that will have to be repaired. We could rebuild it by magic, of course, and make it just as it was. But the gods feel that the city could be improved. We will take this opportunity. And you, my daughter, will design these improvements."

Annabeth looked up, stunned. "My…my lady?"

Athena smiled wryly. "You are an architect, are you not? You have studied the teachings of Deadalus himself. Who better to rebuild Olympus and make it a monument that will last for another eon?"

"You mean…I can design whatever I want?"

"As your heart desires," said the goddess. "Make us a city for the ages."

"As long as you make plenty of statues of me," Apollo added.

"And me," said Aphrodite.

"Hey, and me," said Ares. "Big statues with huge wicked swords and-"

"All right!" Athena interrupted. "She gets the point. Rise, my daughter, official architect of Olympus."

Annabeth rose in a trance and walked back toward Percy.

"Way to go," said Percy, grinning.

For once, she was at a loss for words. "I'll…I'll have to start planning…Drafting paper, and, um, pencils-"

"PERCY JACKSON!" Poseidon announced. Percy's name echoed around the chamber.

All talking died down. The room was quiet beside the crackle of the hearth fire.

Everyone's eyes turned to the son of Posiedon- the gods, the demigods, the Hunters, the Cyclopses, the spirits.

Percy walked forward to the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiled at him reassuringly as she watched him beside her hearth and her old friend Elizabeth. She was in the form of a young girl about the age of eight again. Her smile gave Percy the courage to keep going.

"Rise, my son," said Posiedon.

Percy stood uneasily.

"A great hero must be rewarded," Posiedon said. "Is there anyone here who would deny that my son is deserving?"

It was a miracle that for once, all of the gods were in agreement, even more so considering that many still didn't like Percy.

"The council agrees," said Zeus. "Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."

Percy hesitated. "Any gift?"

Danielle was getting interested. Any gift at all from the Olympians was rare but to give Percy a choice at what he wanted was almost unheard of. She also had an idea of what the council expected him to want as his gift. They were going to be very disappointed, or at least, Zeus would be.

Zeus nodded grimly to Percy's question. "I know what you ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Percy Jackson- if you wish it- you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lietenant for all time."

Percy stared at him, stunned. "Um…a god?"

Zeus rolled his eyes. "A dimwitted god, apparently, but yes. With the consensus of the entire council, I can make you immortal. Then I have to put up with you forever."

"Hmm," Ares mused. "That means that I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea."

"I approve as well," said Athena, though she was staring at Annabeth.

Percy looked at the daughter of Athena as well, who was trying not to meet his eyes. Her face was pale. Danielle was sure now that he wouldn't accept the offer to become a god. While a Hunter, she had no interest in love but she couldn't deny the fact that Percy and Annabeth were perfect for each other. He obviously loved her and she him. Who would tear that romance apart?

Percy was clearly thinking hard, his thoughts going crazy.

"No," Percy said.

The council went silent. The gods frowned at each other like they must have misheard.

"No?" asked Zeus. "You are…turning down our generous gfit?"

There was a dangerous edge to his voice, like a thunderstom about to erupt. Danielle gulped. Percy was walking a very thin line here. The wrong words would have him blasted to dust by an angry king of the gods.

"I'm honored, and everything," Percy continued. "Don't get me wrong. It's just…I've got a lot of life to live. I'd hate to peak in my sophmore year."

The gods were glaring at him, but Annabeth had her hands over her mouth. Her eyes were shining.

Thalia just shook her head from her place next to Danielle. "Typical kelp head," she muttered, secretly pleased by this turn of events. If there was anyone who supported Percy and Annabeth being together the most, it was her.

"I do want a gift, though," Percy went on. "Do you promise to grant my wish?"

Zeus thought about this. "If it is within our power."

"It is, it isn't event that difficult. But I need your promise on the River Styx."

"What?" Dionysus demanded. "You don't trust us?"

"Someone told me," said Percy, who was looking at Hades. "That you should always get a solemn oath."

Hades shrugged. "Guilty."

"Very well!" Zeus growled. "In the name of the council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your _reasonable_ request as long as it is within our power."

The other gods muttered assent. Thunder boomed, shaking the throne room. The deal was made.

"From now on, I want you to properly recognize the children of the gods." Percy said. "All the children of _all_ the gods."

Danielle and Thalia smiled at each other, they knew that Percy was special and would change the world of the gods.

The Olympians shifted uncomfortably.

"Percy," said Posiedon. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Kronos couldn't have risen if it weren't for so many demigods who felt abandoned by their parents," Percy said. "They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had a good reason."

Zeus's nostrils flared. "You dare accuse-"

"No more undertmined children," said Percy. "I want you to promise to claim your children- all your demigod children- by the time they turn thirteen. They won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive."

"Now, wait just a moment," said Apollo, but Percy was on a roll.

"And the minor gods," Percy said. "Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe- they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be pardoned too. And Hades-"

"Are you calling me a _minor god_?" Hades bellowed.

"No, my lord," Percy said quickly. "But your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp. Nico has proven that. No unclaimed children in the Hermes cabin anymore, wondering who their parents are. They'll have their cabins at camp, for all the gods. And no more pact of the Big Three. That didn't work anyway. You've got to stop getting rid of powerful demigods. We're going to train them and accept them instead. All children of all the gods will be welcomed and treated with respect. That is my wish."

Danielle's eyes widened at the wish, hoping that the gods would accept it. She turned to lady Artemis, hoping that she could tell when she wanted to tell her something.

_'My lady,'_ she thought.

Artemis turned slightly. _'Yes?'_

Danielle smiled. _'Your mother Leto might be able to leave Delos.'_

Artemis's eyes widened as well and looked at Percy with a new sort of gruding respect. The fact that Percy wanted amnesty for all the peaceful Titans included the Titan Leto, who was trapped on the island of Delos where she gave birth to Artemis and Apollo. Hera only agreed to let the twins on the council in the first place if their mother was imprisoned for eternity.

Zeus snorted. "Is that all?"

"Percy," said Posiedon," you ask much. You presume much."

"I hold you to your oath," Percy said. "All of you."

Percy got a lot of steely looks. Surprisingly, it was Athena spoke up:

"The boy is correct. We have been unwise to ignore our children. It proved a strategic weakness in this war and almost caused our distruction. Percy Jackson, I have had my doubts about you, but perhaps-" She looked at Annabeth again, then spoke like if the words had a sour taste- "perhaps I was mistaken. I move that we accept the boy's plan."

"Humph," said Zeus. "Being told what to do by a mere child. But I suppose…"

"All in favor," said Hermes.

All the gods raised their hands.

Percy turned to leave, but he didn't get to the doors before Posiedon yelled, "Honor guard!"

Immediately the Cyclopses came forward and made two lines from the thrones to the door- an aisle for him to walk through. They came to attention.

"All hail, Perseus Jackson," Tyson said. "Hero of Olympus…and my big brother!"

_XXXXXXXXX_

Slowly but surely, the Olympians left the throne room one at a time to either check on the damage done or to relax after their fight with Typhon. Artemis, sadly, was not in the best of shape to transport herself or her Hunters anywhere right away so they had to wait in her temple before they could decide where to go to hunt next.

Seeing that over half of the Hunters were too injured to go anywhere anyway, that left the rest nothing to do but rest after the battle. Thalia had taken the first opportunity she got to pass out on Artemis's couch while the other Hunters were scattered wherever they could find room.

Danielle smiled, it was like a big slumber party at the moment and she took a moment for the thought to settle in her mind. Kronos was defeated! The other Titans were either trying to apologize like Prometheus, or on the run like the Titan Krios who had been on guard of Mount Orthys when it crumbled apart when Kronos was defeated. Of course, the Titan lord of time wasn't dead, one couldn't kill a Titan, but his conciousness should have spread so thin that it would be impossible for him to form a coherent thought, much less a body.

She sighed in relief that the war was over, all they had to do now was patch up the girls that had been injured during the fight and take down the monsters that had managed to get away. Of course, now that one war was over, she started thinking of another war, one across the ocean in Great Britain. She honestly didn't know what to think about that. Should she go and save their ungrateful inbred butts, or let Voldemort destroy them so he could build his own world on the ashes.

It really was a lose-lose situation.

Needing some air after being stuck in Artemis's temple for most of the afternoon, she got up and walked into the street right outside. The temple for the goddess of the moon was exactly the same as her cabin at Camp Half-Blood. The inside was decorated with animals and scenes of various hunts while the outside was plain during the day but at night it glowed a bright silver.

Avoiding the temple nearby that was glowing brightly in the sun, she made her way to a small garden with statues of various gods and heroes. Kronos had apparently taken a direct route to the throne room and this garden was a little out of the way so it had not been damaged that badly.

Sitting down on one of the benches on the path, she looked at the fountain next to it and saw it depicted the original Perseus. She smiled a little at the thought of one of the very few heroes to have a happy ending. Born a son of Zeus, the orginal Perseus had defeated Medusa, allowing Pegasus to be born from her severed neck, and saved the princess Andromeda from a sea serpent who tried to eat her by turning it to stone.

Princess Andromeda.

Andromeda.

Andromeda Tonks.

Danielle grimaced at that thought. She wanted to avoid the world of magic, not be reminded of it. Andromeda Tonks was Sirius Black's cousin. She herself was the granddaughter of Dorea Black so that made Andromeda her second or third cousin once removed or something.

Pureblood family trees were so confusing.

"Troubles, young Hunter?"

Looking up, Danielle saw the blonde haired grey eyed form of Athena. She was wearing a simple modest outfit of a blouse and a skirt that fell past her knees but her grey eyes were piercing, like she was analyzing everything about her in a second.

Danielle made to stand up to bow but the goddess waved it aside before sitting down next to her. "Relax, young one, I have no interest in turning you into an owl or something similar. However, it is not like the people in your old world do not enjoy the company of owls, is it?"

The red headed Hunter just nodded, not sure what to say. This was the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy; not someone who she wanted to get on their bad side. Athena would not simply rush into battle without thinking like Ares, or hold a personal grudge like Hades. No, if anyone got on her bad side and she would come up with a plan to take them down, hard. It might take months or even years but she would think of a plan and it would not fail.

After a few minutes of silence, Danielle decided to take a risk and say what she had been thinking for over a year.

"I'm sorry."

Athena turned to look at her, but Danielle was looking at the fountain, not wanting to look at the goddess in the eye.

She continued. "I'm sorry I thought some horrible things about you for a while. After I came back from the quest to save lady Artemis and you suggested that I might be a security risk due to fact that I have magic, I didn't think of you in the most positive light."

That was a major understatement and Athena probably knew it. Still, she didn't say anything and let the girl speak.

"I had just lost my older sister figure and had just fought against Atlas," said Danielle. "I have been loyal to lady Artemis since the beginning. The idea that you would see me as a traitor, lyer, or something that I'm not hit a nerve and I thought the worst of you for about a year afterwards. I know now you didn't mean anything personal but I don't like someone calling me something like that. You were only stating a truth at the time and it did lead to me swearing to remain loyal to Olympus as well as lady Artemis but I wasn't in the right frame of mind to appreciate it at the time. So, I'm sorry."

Athena just stared at her, unsure what to make of what she had been told. The Hunter next to her had spoken to the fountain the entire time but she could tell the words were sincere. To be honest, she really had just been commenting on a fact that day. She didn't even consider the emotional ramifications of what she had implied.

"You were sorted into Hufflepuff at Hogwarts, correct. For the hard working and loyal?"

Danielle took in a deep breath and nodded.

"In that case, loyalty must come easy to you, but only for those who you know you can trust. From what I have seen, you also have a bit of a temper against those that threaten your friends."

Danielle had her head down, not sure why Athena was giving her such and examination.

"I came here, Danielle, to warn you about the dangers that are ahead of you." Danielle looked at the goddess, unsure what to think. Athena went on. "All I can say is that the anger and ferocity in your attacks can be a powerful weapon if used correctly, especially directed at the right source. Just don't lose yourself along the way."

And with that, the goddess of wisdom stood up and left the park, leaving a very confused Hunter behind her.

_XXXXXXXXX_

A week after the battle of Manhattan, the Hunters of Artemis were, again, on Olympus but this time their lady had no idea of what they were brought up for.

Thalia whistled, "what could dad want with us now?" she had been looking forward to simply laying around for a while, only killing monsters every now and then when she felt like it.

Lady Artemis shook her head, "I have no idea. Father would only summon us if something big was about to happen."

When the doors to the throne room opened, they saw that it looked the same as it had the last time they were there. Annabeth hadn't gotten around to implementing her plans for the throne room yet so some of the thrones still looked a bit battered. The other eleven Olympians, plus Hades and Hestia, were sitting on their thrones, waiting for them.

Zeus looked bored, as always, but Hera looked happy when she saw one of the few heroes that she liked and smiled at Danielle. The other gods just looked happy that the Titan war was over, especially Apollo since his oracle got to move on at last.

When lady Artemis had grown to her godly height and sat on her throne, Zeus opened the meeting. "Hunters, we would like to first thank you for helping us end the war. Your contributions are greatly appreciated."

The Hunters nodded and bowed to lord Zeus for his kind words.

Zeus continued, "Now then, Danielle, please come forward."

Danielle, slightly worried about why the king of the gods was putting her in the spotlight, slowly walked forward so she was standing by the hearth, bowing to him.

Hera smiled, "rise Danielle, you are not in trouble."

Danielle relaxed as Zeus went on. "Now then, while this war has been won, there is another threat that we should deal with. Can any of you say that the magical war in Britain does not affect us?"

Danielle's eye widened in horror at the implication of what the king of the gods was saying. The other gods either looked slightly worried, angry, or just bored.

"Hades," said Zeus. "Can you say that you want that war to continue?"

Hades growled at him, "of course not! That Voldemort character is killing people left and right. His followers aren't much better! And once he is done with Britain, he WILL move on to the rest of the world. All of western civilization is in danger thanks to that annoying wizard."

Zeus nodded, "HECATE!"

With a sudden blast of light, a woman was standing in the throne room. Danielle was surprised, this was the first time she had met the creator of the magical world.

Hecate looked a lot like Hera but her hair was more raven haired instead of chocolate. She was also shorter by about a head with onyx colored eyes instead of Hera's brown.

Hecate looked nervous, "ah, hello, Lord Zeus. I hope this is not about-"

"I don't care what you think is going on here, Hecate," said Zeus, angry at the goddess that had joined Kronos. "Mind telling me about this magical terrorist that is causing trouble in Britain?"

Hecate looked like she had been hit in the face. "Ah, well, Tom Riddle, now calling himself Lord Voldemort, is one of my legacies. I had a kid about a thousand years ago named Salazar Slytherin and now this Riddle character is a magical terrorist. Not one of my favorites.

"He has created many of the most foul dark magical artifacts to exist in his attempt to never die that must be destroyed for him to enter lord Hades's domain. I believe two have been destroyed already but that would still leave about five more, plus Voldemort himself."

Zeus nodded, "figures. Now then, the Council and I have discussed this and we cannot allow this mortal to live. If he discovers the gods here in America, it could prove disastrous. Would a magical from your world be able to defeat this Voldemort person?"

Hecate nodded slowly, "yes. There was actually a magical prophecy a while ago that states that one does have the power to destroy him. But magical prophecies are different than godly ones, the magical ones only show a possible vision of the future that could happen, not show one what will happen."

"But this person in this prophecy would be able to defeat Riddle?" asked Athena.

Hecate nodded, "yes. She would be able to. She would have a better chance than anyone else. But Danielle Potter vanished from my world a long time ago, I have no idea where she is."

Danielle grimaced; she knew where this was going. She would have to do it if lord Zeus told her to, but she would hate every moment of it.

Apollo smirked and went into a trance. "_The one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord approaches…born to parents who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord shall mark them as his equal, but they will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hands of the other, as neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"_

Apollo shook himself slightly and grinned at the shocked throne room. "I believe that is the prophecy you were talking about?"

Hecate nodded, "yes, that is the one. It was made by one of my minor oracles to an Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort targeted the Potters, having two children that could qualify."

Danielle was shaking with fury, only calming down when lady Hestia approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. If she considered Artemis her mother figure, then Hestia was a favored Aunt, she could calm anyone down.

Hecate seemed to notice her for the first time. "Ah, I was wondering where you got to. Ever since you left the magical world I created I couldn't sense you anymore."

Artemis growled at her, "maybe if you paid more attention to the godly world around you, you would have noticed that your chosen one joined my ranks."

Hecate looked down, clearly feeling guilty about she had done. "I got no respect, I had no voice on the council, I didn't even have a throne and you Olympians just took me for granted. Is it any wonder why I joined the Titans?"

"Danielle! Do you accept this quest?" asked Zeus, trying to get on with the meeting and avoiding any real argument with Hecate.

Danielle winced at the thought of going back to Britain but if it had to be done, it had to be done. Looking at the other Hunters, some of the ones who had just joined looked confused that there was even a magical world in the first place while the older ones looked at her in understanding. It was no secret that she hated her first home, much like Zoe had.

She took in a deep breath and addressed Lord Zeus who was still waiting for her answer. "Lord Zeus, while I would prefer not to, I understand the importance of this quest and consent to go. I merely ask to take a couple of traveling companions with me."

Zeus nodded, "of course. I would prefer you to take Hunters and not demigods."

Danielle smiled, "Thalia, Elizabeth, you want to come?"

Both looked surprised that she had chosen them but nodded. "Yeah," said Thalia happily, "let's kick some wizard butt!" She pulled out her spear and made it crackle with electricity.

Elizabeth was stunned, "why would you choose me?" she asked. "I haven't been in the Hunt for that long and-"

"And you are powerful in your own right," interrupted Danielle. "Besides, I got the feeling that we will need a fire user on this quest. There will be a lot of things to burn in magical Britain."

Elizabeth nodded, getting herself mentally ready to go on a cross-country hunting trip.

Zeus, Hermes and Hestia all smiled at her choices. Thalia would be a welcome addition as she was always ready for a fight and her attitude would greatly tick off a lot of people in Magical Britain. Elizabeth was a daughter of Hermes and the champion of Hestia, the power to summon food and rob people blind would be a great help.

"Well," said Hecate, who saw this a good chance to redeem herself at least slightly for her role in the Titan war. "I have something to give you then Danielle."

Danielle turned to see Hecate summoning a large book the size of a paving slab. With a wave of her hand, it shrunk down to the size of a normal leather bound book. "This is a spell book that I made myself. It has every subject you can think of and will be a great help in your journey."

The redheaded Hunter was surprised but smiled, "thank you lady Hecate. I promise you that I will put it to good use." She shrunk the book even more and put it into her bag, happy that she had been given such an amazing gift.

Hecate nodded, "by the way, I do not approve of how you got it, but I will allow you to keep the bracelet you got."

Danielle unconsciously gripped her bracelet that Apollo and Hermes had given her. Looking up, she saw that both gods were whistling and looking at everything but at her. She rolled her eyes, they were always the same but that was what it was like with family.

Zeus got their attention, "alright then, anything else?"

Hades surprisingly got up from his throne. "Zeus, I have a matter I would like to talk to Danielle here about but I would like Thantos to be here as well, if that is alright with you, of course." He was as greasy as always but he had gotten the whole council's attention and curiosity peaked.

Zeus waved for Hades to go ahead and the lord of the dead opened a portal for the god of death to come through.

When Thantos came through the portal and into the council room, Danielle was sure that she almost blushed. Whenever she had thought of Thantos, she had always thought of the stereotypical image of Death; with the long cloak and the scythe.

The real Thantos was much better and easier on the eyes. He had raven black hair that swept past his shoulders and a disinterested look on his handsome face. While he did wear black Jeans, he didn't wear a shirt but that was understandable as he had huge black wings coming from his back. If Danielle didn't know any better, she would think that she was looking at a minor love god, not the god of death. The god that led souls from the mortal plane into the underworld.

Wait a second, Thantos had black wings? The black feathers! The ones she had seen in those weird dreams during the Titan War! Thantos gave her that dream?

While Thantos didn't look surprised by his sudden change in scenery, he did perk an eyebrow at Danielle, who suddenly found the floor very interesting. She had no interest in Thantos at all but it was hard to be in same presence of someone that handsome, especially so immortally handsome.

"Well, this is an interesting change in plans," said Thantos. Oh sweet Styx, even his voice was melodious! Thantos pulled out a pure black I-Pad and scanned his schedule, "Lord Hades, I don't believe you requested me here for a social visit."

Hades shook his head, "no, Thantos, please tell me if this girl here is the one that I think she is."

Danielle had no clue what Hades was talking about but suddenly found herself being analyzed by the god of death. None of the other gods seemed to know what the minor god was doing either. Artemis was even holding her bow in a threatening manner, as Thantos seemed to examine every inch of her Hunter.

"Interesting," Thantos said as he stepped back from his examination. He turned to lord Hades again, "she is one of the last ones. The true heir of the third brother, the youngest of the ones that had tried to trick me."

Everyone looked at him in confusion. Some of the gods seemed to understand like Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, but the others didn't. Even Hera looked lost.

"Um," said Danielle, finding her voice again. "What do you mean by that?"

Thantos looked at her; there was no emotion in his eyes. "Interesting that you of all people would have partial immortality. Ignotus Peverell would be so proud."

"Would someone please just explain what is going on?" Ares almost shouted to the whole room. Most of the gods and the Hunters wanted to know as well.

"Very well," said Thantos smoothly. "Long ago, there were three magical brothers that eluded me for years. They thought that they were better than me and could cheat me of what all must give up in the end.

"One day, they came to a river that could not be swum across or waded through. When they summoned a bridge that would carry them across, two of the three brothers shouted that they had cheated me that day, insulting me and cursing my name. I did not appreciate that.

"Wanting them to learn their lesson, I gave them a choice of whatever gift they wanted, pretending that they had won a prize. The oldest brother, Antioch, wanted a magical wand that was more powerful than any other, one that was worthy of one who had cheated me. Hecate and I worked together and created a wand made of Elder wood for him.

"The second brother, Cadmus, wanted to humiliate me further and asked for the power to bring back souls from the underworld. So I gave him a stone and told him it had the power to do so.

"The third brother, Ignotus, wanted to evade me until he thought it was his time. Unable to refuse him and the fact that he understood the rules of life and death more than the others, I gave him a cloak that would make him truly invisible, even from me.

"The first two brothers died due to their gifts. Antioch boasted about his wand and how it was 'unbeatable.' He was killed and the wand stolen before I could get to it. Cadmus could not truly be with the one he loved that he had brought back using the 'Resurrection Stone' and killed himself so he could truly be with her.

"Ignotus however reached a great age before he knew it was his time, gave the cloak to his son, and willingly came with me to the underworld."

Everyone was silent when Thantos was finished with his tale. He continued, "Danielle here is the last descendent of Ignotus while your Lord Voldemort is the last of Cadmus. Only she may be able to use the cloak or the other two items to their full potential and become what mortals call 'Mistress of Death.'"

Danielle gulped, everyone was looking at her, "what would that mean? And do you even want me to possess such items?"

"As the mistress of death, you would be able to come and go from the underworld whenever you wish. You would not have command over me." While he didn't smile or change his expression, it was clear he found the idea slightly amusing. "As for the question of if you should have the power, I think that you would be a better champion of my items than others. The old man Dumbledore has done well with my wand, but I think that a true Peverell should hold on to it. The cloak is yours by right if you take the last name Peverell."

"I could get a last name again," Danielle whispered. While she didn't want to be a Potter again, she had to admit that being called; 'No-Name' was insulting to her.

Thantos continued, "as for this Voldemort person, he irks me more than the first two brothers had. He has cheated me with his horcruxes and sent souls to the underworld before their time. I plan on helping you, descendent of Ignotus, by giving you the locations of his horcruxes."

The god of death summoned a sealed scroll and gave it to the red headed Hunter, who nodded in gratitude and put it in her bag.

"Thank you for your help lord Thantos."

"Yes, I will make you a deal, Hunter. I will allow you to use my items if you come across them, in return, I will take them back to the underworld from whence they came if and when you do die. They will never be used again by mortals afterwards."

Danielle nodded, "of course."

Hades cleared his throat, "now then. I'm sure the biggest question you are wondering is what is a horcrux. Well, Hecate, would you like to tell them?"

The goddess of magic glared at him but nodded, "fine. A horcrux is the darkest of dark magic. Using the murder of an innocent, one splits their soul in half. Over time, the two pieces can merge back together but a dark wizard can use this split to place half of their soul into an object to prevent themselves from dying. As long as the horcrux is around, the dark wizard cannot die."

Quite a few gods and Hunters looked sick by the description. One Hunter, a younger one, actually ran out of the throne room to throw up.

Hecate continued, "Voldemort created several of these abominations. That would be how he survived his own killing curse being reflected back on himself. Danielle survived when her grandmother sacrificed her life for her but Tom Riddle used dark magic."

Hades frowned, "this Tom Riddle is a menace to my domain. Therefore, Danielle, Thalia and Elizabeth, if you give me your hunting knives I'll improve them so they can destroy a horcrux."

The three Hunters all nodded and handed over their celestrial bronze hunting knives. Hades raised his hand over them and they glowed black for a moment before he gave them back.

"That should do it. Once Riddle is defeated for good, the knives will go back to normal. I don't think we want something like those knives running around for too long."

"Well, that was illuminating," said Zeus when everything with Hades was over. "Is there anything else?"

Artemis was the next one to jump down from her throne. "This might not be as impressive as my uncle, but I think this will help with your quest." Lady Artemis waved her hand over their quivers of arrows, making them glow silver for a moment.

"The quivers will never run out of arrows," lady Artemis explained. "I am afraid that with the battle against Tom Riddle, you would not be able to replenish your arrow supply."

"Thank you lady Artemis," said Danielle for all three of them. Thalia and Elizabeth nodded.

"Well," said Zeus. "The only thing we need is a way to transport them to Britain-"

"I'll do it!" Apollo shouted, getting to his feet. "My sun chariot can take them easily."

"Absolutely not!" Artemis argued, getting off her throne as well. "I have a chariot as well. I will not have my brother take a trip of this length with my Hunters!"

Zeus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "My daughter, while I would normally agree with you on this, Apollo's chariot is big enough for the three Hunters. Besides, since he flies the sun, he is a more accomplished pilot than you are."

Artemis stood there, glaring at everyone, before sighing and sitting down, still holding her bow that she had summoned into her hand.

"Alright then," said Hecate, trying to diffuse the tension in the room. "Danielle, I suggest you go see the Order of the Phoenix, the resistance against Tom Riddle, first. Get to know what they have been doing, have an idea of what to do, that sort of thing. I'll contact Dumbledore and tell him you are on your way."

"If there is no other business, I declare this meeting finished," said Zeus. He summoned his master bolt and slammed one end against the floor. Lightning swirled around both himself and Hera where they vanished with a crack of thunder.

"Always the dramatic one," Poseidon muttered, Hades nodded. They both vanished into sea green and black mist respectively, Thantos leaving as well.

One by one, all the gods left leaving only Artemis, Apollo, and Hestia, the last of which was back to tending the hearth.

"Well," said Apollo, clapping his hands together. "Shall we be off? It's a long flight to London."

Artemis glowered at him. "Just remember the rules, Apollo."

Apollo waved her off, "yeah, yeah, I got them. Don't flirt with them, don't look at them, and don't talk to them, blah, blah, blah. Just enjoy your hunt little sis."

"FOR THE LAST TIME, I HELPED MOM GIVE BIRTH TO YOU! I'M OLDER!"

Thalia meanwhile was talking to Danielle, Elizabeth, and the other Hunters. "Guess this means I can't be the lieutenant for a while, Phoebe, want the job while I'm gone?"

Phoebe blinked in shock, then smirked and nodded. "Oh yeah, about time I got this."

Thalia smirked as well, took off her tiara and tossed it to her. "Glad to be rid of that for awhile."

Elizabeth snorted, "ah, Thalia, guess again."

While Phoebe was admiring her new tiara, Thalia raised a hand through her hair, only to find that another tiara had taken its place. "Darn it! I hate that stupid thing!"

"Oh calm down," said Danielle, finding the whole thing hilarious. "We have a long flight ahead of us and I don't want you to complain the whole way."

Apollo came up to them at that point, "oh, good, shall we be off? I ticked Artemis off again somehow, can't imagine how." He barely dodged as an arrow shot past him, missing his head by about a millimeter. The arrow kept going and hit Ares's throne. "Has a bit of a temper, doesn't she?"

Danielle rolled her eyes, "sunny, if we're going, shouldn't we go? I would prefer not to lose an almost decent uncle due to his stupidity."

The Hunt and Artemis grinned at that while Apollo's smirk faded, once again being reminded that Danielle saw him as family. "Fine, let's go then." He took out some car keys and pushed the button that activated the alarm, instead, a bright light made Apollo's sports car appear in the middle of the throne room.

"Ah, right."

He pushed the button again and the car changed into a small bus. "I do hate to change out of the sports car look."

The three Hunt members gave their sisters one last farewell hug before boarding the bus. Apollo waved a little before holding his hands out, "hang on, haiku time."

Thalia, Danielle and Elizabeth, all hanging out of the window and listening, groaned along the rest of the Hunt.

"My car is awesome

Off to save the magic world

I offer my help."

The sounds of crickets could be heard throughout the throne room. Apollo shrugged, "no one likes my poetry." He got in the bus and started it up. The Hunt waved them off one last time before the bus zoomed out of the throne room doors and flew into the air.

"Is there any entertainment on this thing?" asked Thalia, once it was safe for her to open her eyes and had taken a seat in the middle of her row, far away from the windows.

Apollo had to think about that, "not sure. I think I got some DVDs in here somewhere. It's a long flight so we have time."

Danielle frowned, "isn't London a ten hour flight in a mortal airplane? Shouldn't it take only a few hours or something?"

"Ah, well," Apollo looked sheepish. "This thing only goes west, you know, it IS the sun. So that's the direction we're going."

Elizabeth blinked, "wait, if we're going west, and London is in the east, then-"

"Then we got about a fourteen to fifteen hour flight instead of a ten hour one," Danielle groaned. This was worse than mortal flights!

"Kinda," Apollo said, sounding cheerful.

"You expect us to be in this stupid thing for that long?" Thalia demanded. She already didn't like heights, being stuck here for that long…

"Hey, I said I got some DVD's," Apollo said. "Look in that box under the passenger seat."

Elizabeth did it. The box only contained one DVD and a small pack of beer. "Why is there beer in here? I thought gods didn't get drunk off of mortal stuff."

"Hey, that is Dionysus's special stock, I'll let you know. He doesn't drink wine all the time," said Apollo, now indignant.

"Whatever," said Elizabeth, holding up the DVD. "Apollo, this is Disney's Hercules."

"So?"

"So," said Danielle, getting angry on principle regarding anything to do with Hercules. "You want us to watch a stinking movie about the guy all Hunters hate? Why do you even have that thing anyway? It's as far from the truth as possible!"

Thalia nodded, "I kind of thought that Zeus or Hera would have blown up Disney studios for that, actually."

Apollo smirked, "ah, but we gods have to have some fun, don't we. Oh, I remember now! Hermes and I were in here once and we planned on getting drunk watching the movie. We figured that watching it like that would be funnier than doing it sober. And it was! It was awesome!"

All three Hunters face palmed.

"And I wonder why I'm in the Hunt," Danielle said, whacking her head against the back of the seat in front of her.

Thalia and Elizabeth nodded. "Got that right."

Apollo kept going. "Now that I think about it, Hera did want to blow up Disney for being portrayed as 'the brat's mother' but was stopped when it was revealed that Walt Disney was dead by then. She just cursed the director of the film for a few decades. Walt himself was a demigod, a kid of one of the nine Muses if I remember…"

He just kept talking, barely aware that the three Hunters were completely ignoring him by now.

"What about that list of horcruxes that Thantos gave us?" asked Elizabeth. "We could see if any of them are easy to get to or not."

Thlaia and Danielle nodded, "good idea." Danielle got out the scroll, broke the seal, and unfurled it to reveal the items the horcruxes were, along with their locations.

"Huh? Two of them are destroyed already," said Elizabeth, looking over the list. "The one in your scar, Danielle." The Hunter nodded, unconsciously rubbing the scar below her collarbone. "Another that was destroyed was a diary."

"Yeah, I remember that one. It possessed a student because she was writing in it. The crazy girl didn't think that there was anything wrong in writing into a diary that wrote back."

Thalia snorted, "That sounds normal," she said sarcastically.

Danielle nodded, "I managed to destroy it with a basilisk fang and the soul fragment died, saving her life. I did wonder what that diary was for a while."

Elizabeth was back to looking at the list. "Tom also turned a ring, cup, locket, his snake, and a diadem into horcruxes as well."

"What's a diadem?" asked Thalia, never hearing that particular word before.

"A tiara," said Danielle, smirking as Thalia raised her hand to check and see if her own tiara had vanished or not. She scowled when she realized that it was still there.

"Ah, I remember that diadem," said Apollo, still driving. "It was the one that belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw, right? I swear, she was one of the very few non-blonde daughters of Athena ever. Smart girl but I think she gave up her personal life for her books."

"Rowena Ravenclaw was a daughter of Athena?" asked Danielle, wondering if she should re-read 'Hogwarts, a History'.

"Oh yeah," said Apollo, "all four founders of Hogwarts were demigods. Godric Gryffindor was a son of Zeus."

"That makes sense," muttered Danielle. "The king of the gods would make sure that his son was the most famous of the founders."

Thalia seemed interested in hearing about her thousand year old half brother.

Apollo continued, "I believe that Helga Hufflepuff was a daughter of Hermes."

Now Elizabeth was getting into the conversation, eager to hear about her half sister.

"So that's why she didn't care about who joined her house."

"Yep, just honoring her dad by accepting everyone who doesn't fit in anywhere else," said Apollo. "And of course, you heard about Salazar Slytherin being a son of Hecate. I think he didn't like the fact that the other three founders were the kids of Olympians but he loved that he was a son of the goddess who had created the magical world in the first place. Hecate loved him so much, that she gave him the power to speak to her sacred animal, the snake."

"Good thing that Voldemort doesn't know he's descended from Hecate then," said Danielle. "How much more arrogant would he get if he found that bit of info out." The idea of Voldemort finding out his ancestor was the goddess that created magic itself was truly frightening.

Apollo nodded, "anyway, the diadem of Ravenclaw was said to enhance the wisdom of the wearer. No one knows if that is true though. Athena was supposed to have something to do about that project though so it is probably true."

Thalia was looking through the scroll as well, "a diary? A locket? A tiara? Are we fighting an evil wizard or a fairy princess?"

The other two Hunters and Apollo laughed. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?"

"So, Danielle," said Thalia, turning serious. "What exactly is our game plan when we get there?"

The rest of the flight was spent discussing battle plans and catching up on their sleep. Apollo kept true to his word and didn't bother any of them unless they asked him a question but it was clear that he was out of his element in trying to entertain three teenage girls for any length of time.

"Do I really have to be here?" Danielle asked her companions rhetorically. There was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder overhead as an answer. Danielle rolled her eyes, "I was kidding, I know I have to be here." Another flash of lightning appeared overhead but it didn't sound threatening like the last one.

Thalia smirked, "oh come on Danielle, aren't you happy being back in London?"

Danielle rolled her eyes again, "Thalia, I ran away from here years ago, remember. The sooner I'm back in America the better."

Elizabeth nodded, "I couldn't agree more, did Apollo have to drop us off when it's so foggy?"

Sure enough, they couldn't see much due to the heavy mist covering the bay around the River Thames. Apollo would drop them off near the London Eye. The huge Ferris wheel was right next to Big Ben, the large clock tower that was famous in London.

Thalia smirked, "wouldn't it be awesome if someone turned that tower into a waterslide or something?"

Danielle and Elizabeth stared at her like she was crazy. If they weren't careful, she would be talking about a platypus being a secret agent or something. Shaking her head, Danielle marched off into the gloom, looking for the person that was supposed to discuss what the Order of the Phoenix had been doing to defeat Voldemort. Lady Hecate had told them that she would arrange someone to meet them.

After looking around the docks for about twenty minutes, a peculiar person met them. She looked normal, if someone having bubblegum pink hair could look normal. She at least could dress like a normal person, unlike the constant robes that they had seen witches and wizards wear.

The mystery person approached. Up close, she was probably in her early twenties, wearing a simple outfit of Jeans and a t-shirt. She also stumbled on her way to run up to them.

"Wotcha, you three, I'm Tonks, I'm the one that's supposed to take you to headquarters."

Danielle looked like she couldn't believe this, "headquarters? I thought we were supposed to just talk to someone."

Tonks shook her head, "sorry, but I'm supposed to take you back. But hey, I bet you'll like Potter Manor."

Thalia sniggered and playfully punched Danielle's arm, "yeah Danielle, I bet you'll love Potter Manor."

Danielle growled at her, "Don't push it."

Elizabeth decided to be the voice of reason, "and how are we getting there? Apperition? Portkey? Brooms?"

"Apperition," said Tonks. "Fastest way."

Danielle sighed, "figures. Let's get this over with, I don't like the feeling of being pushed through a straw."

That made Thalia and Elizabeth pale a little but they held Tonks's hand and with a crack, they were gone.

They landed in front of a wrought iron gate encircling a large six hundred forty acre property. The manor itself was a large two story one, complete with attic and a garage that could hold a whole fleet of cars.

Thalia whistled after she recovered from the apparition, "nice place."

Danielle was too busy reviewing the horrible experiences at this place and wanted to move on as soon as possible. "Yeah, shall we go inside?" She hoped her voice didn't waver too much.

Tonks nodded and led the three Hunters toward the large gates. After opening without so much as a squeak, they made their way up to the front door, about a quarter mile from the gates. By the time they finally made it, Tonks was panting slightly while the three Hunters were perfectly fine.

Getting inside, the interior of the manor was just as posh as they expected it from the outside. Sunlight was pouring in from the large windows, showing off the expensive looking armchairs and tables. A large staircase held family pictures of the three inhabitants, Danielle was positive that her parents had tried and failed to find any of her.

Footsteps got their attention, making them get into a battle position, but it was only a red headed plump woman that Danielle recognized as the mother of the Weasley clan. She was wearing an apron and had her wand in the pocket, "oh Tonks dear, I take it you found our guests?"

Tonks nodded, moving forward and tripping on the carpet, "yeah. Alright you lot, follow me."

Danielle rolled her eyes yet again and made her way into the dining room. The whole place was exactly the same as she remembered. From the paintings on the walls to the whole feeling that she wasn't welcome here.

Thalia was taking everything in stride and was following the others, wanting this to be over with as much as Danielle. Elizabeth looked curious, having never been in a magical house before, and was taking in everything.

After a short walk down a hallway, Tonks opened a door at the end to reveal the dining room. Like everything else in this manor, it was huge. Capable of seating about fifteen to twenty people, it was packed with people that Danielle figured was the Order of the Phoenix.

James and Lily were easy to make out, talking to a red headed man that was probably Mr. Weasley. Tonks went to talk to a black, bald man that excluded a sense of power and a grizzled old man that had a fake eye whizzing around his otherwise empty eye socket. Her supposed Uncle Sirius was talking to her sort of Uncle Remus Lupin. A few seats away were the apparent 'golden trio' of Hogwarts; David, Ron and Hermione, all of whom were talking in low voices. Professors Snape and McGonagall were also there, not talking but simply watching everyone. Dumbledore sat at the seat next to the head of the table, showing that he was important and was of great exuberance.

Danielle didn't recognize the others but figured that they all did something important or else they wouldn't be there.

Dumbledore looked up and saw the three newcomers, "ah, Danielle, good of you to make it."

Danielle simply nodded once and sat down in the closet chair, Thalia and Elizabeth following. Thalia took great pride of leaning into her seat and propping her boots on the table, smirking. After getting a smile from Danielle and a disapproving look from several people, including Mrs. Weasley, Thalia just smiled even wider and refused to move.

Danielle got the show started, "okay, first of all, I don't want to be here, I don't like most of you here, but we were asked to take care of Voldemort and that is what we are going to do."

There were a few shivers at the mention of the name and she had to stop herself from yelling at them. It was only a name! For the love of Hestia!

"What makes you think you could match him and his Death Eaters?" asked Moody, almost growling his question.

His eyes, both of them, widened and he moved out of the way as an arrow hit the wall behind him. Elizabeth put away her bow, "sorry, did I do that?"

Danielle shook her head, "I'm surprised Moody, can't even recognize me?"

Moody took a closer look, and then burst out laughing. "Oh this is good, great to see you again Danielle, and good job with letting me keep up with CONSTANT VILGILANCE!"

Danielle smirked; she knew she liked the crazy ex-Auror.

"Excuse me," said a voice that belonged to Tonks, "but who is she? You never did tell me who they are."

Danielle turned to Dumbledore, James and Lily, "you never told them?"

Dumbledore looked awkward, "I figured you would tell them in time."

Danielle snorted, "More like you didn't want to admit to yourself you made a mistake." In a louder voice she said, "my name is Danielle, but it used to be Danielle Potter."

There were a lot of gasps as that sunk in, most had never known that David had a sister until a few years ago, and no one knew what she looked like. A red headed man that was younger than the other one spoke up, "hang on, you're what? Thirteen? Shouldn't you be about seventeen or eighteen?"

Danielle nodded, "I should be, but it is interesting what kinds of magic one runs into when one is lost, alone, and afraid of the world."

"Dark magic," said Ron, scowling.

Danielle rolled her eyes, "hardly. You hardly have room to talk though Weasley, if you were stranded alone at thirteen with no money and hardly any food; you do what you must to survive. Now then, I'm here, you obviously have questions for me, what shall it be first? The sooner we are done, the sooner we can deal with Voldemort."

Dumbledore answered, "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

Danielle shrugged, "why not?" She took a deep breath, centering herself so she could continue. "As some of you know, I was the twin sister of David. Supposed to have been raised with love alongside her brother." She smiled bitterly, "then came that Halloween night.

"Voldemort came and found us in Godric's Hallow, Peter Pettigrew giving up the secret to lift the fidealous charm. Grandfather Charlus and Grandmother Dorea were babysitting David and I while James and Lily were away at a Halloween party, trying to protect their image of a young social couple, no doubt."

James and Lily looked down at that, Danielle continued. "From what I found out later, Voldemort pulled out his wand and killed our grandparents. He then turned his wand on us and shouted out the killing curse. It, apparently if the prophecy is true, hit me and bounced off, ripping him from his body in the process."

Dumbledore looked confused, "I never did understand, you didn't have a scratch on you, just a depleted magical core."

Danielle smiled bitterly again, "that could be because the scar you were looking for I don't reveal to just anyone." The scar in question was shaped like a bolt of lightning and was just below her collarbone where the curse had hit her. "Then Dumbledore, the great Leader of the Light came and saw the damage. Well, I'm sure that anyone could imagine what was going through his mind. Neither one of us had a visible scar to 'mark him as his equal' so he apparently chose the boy, not the girl, to be the hero of the magical world."

Dumbledore had the grace to look sheepish while David looked furious, but at whom, it was impossible to tell. Ron didn't look convinced while Hermione was analyzing everything that she was being told.

Hermione had often wondered if what David had told her about his sister was true. The problem was that he and Ron had been her only friends and were in Gryffindor with her. She hadn't had a lot of time to interact with the mysterious girl before she vanished.

Danielle continued, "the years passed, as they always do. I was the quiet one, preferring to read in my room or by a tree in the backyard to flying or running around outside like my father and brother. I never had any friends, you know. David always managed to spread rumors about me that turned people away from me.

"I remember on David and my eighth birthday, Ronald took a book I had bought with my own money that I had saved and ran off with it. I chased after him to get the book back, only to find him and David ripping the pages out to make confetti for the party. When I tried to complain to James, Lily and even to Sirius, they all told me to go away or to yell at me for making up stories about David. He was perfect after all, the boy-who-lived, the hero who could do no wrong. I was nothing."

James and Lily looked sick as this story kept going. They had never second-guessed David, never thought that he might be wrong. Sirius looked like he had aged several years, he had thought that Danielle was just making up stories that day. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley started wondering what else that Ron had lied to them about.

Ron looked furious as the story went on, Hermione looked pensive, as if she was going to reserve judgment until the story was over. David looked angry, but he was glaring at the wood of the table, not sure whom he should be angry at.

Danielle continued in the same low monotone that she had adopted for this story. "Then I went to Hogwarts, the supposed greatest day of my life was when I got my letter. I was so excited; finally, I would learn magic and finally be something to my parents. I would do as well as I could and come out on top, then maybe my parents would notice me and be proud of me."

The bitter tone of her voice suggested that no such thing happened. "I was forced to shop for my own supplies, not even knowing at that point that I had a trust vault at Gringotts. I was forced to learn that from shop owners that luckily knew enough about the Potter family that they would know. I got to the school and was sorted into Hufflepuff for my loyalty, and does anyone know what I got from my parents the next day? I got a letter from my 'beloved' parents stating clearly that no Potter ever gets sorted into the 'house of losers.' I was 'supposed' to have gone to Gryffindor and become a great witch there, since no other house ever had any famous witches or wizards. It wasn't the 'Potter' thing to do.

"I learned a lot there. I still didn't have friends since David was spreading more of his rumors, but otherwise I was the happiest I had ever been. I made good grades and even made it into the top three by the end of the year, just short of Ms. Granger here." Danielle gestured toward Hermione, who cautiously nodded back.

"When I came home, I was expecting some praise, amazement, any sign at all that James and Lily were proud of me for doing so well. What I got instead was the opposite. I was yelled at for 'daring' to do better than David. I was punished for making David 'feel stupid' when we came home for the summer.

"I figured, why not? They had never cared for me anyway, why was I so surprised that they wouldn't care about it this time?" James and Lily seemed to be withering as they sat there. Professors McGonagall and Snape were stunned, they knew that Danielle had been an exceptional student, but they didn't know anything about her motivation.

"Since I had obviously done something wrong for doing third best in my year, I decided to do the best, that way James and Lily would have to be proud of me whether they liked it or not. It was a foolish hope, I know, but I was twelve at the time.

"During my second year at school, some idiot decided to open the Chamber of Secrets and unleashed the monster inside. I didn't want the school to be closed any more than anyone else so in addition to studying and doing the best I could in classes, I hunted for clues about the monster. Luckily, my mentor, the only one who seemed to care about me, Mad-eye Moody, had taught me how to multitask and put together puzzle pieces that no one else could see."

She gave a look of gratitude at Moody, who smiled and nodded back. "Thought you had potential, missy."

Danielle nodded, "you were the only one Moody. When I wasn't doing my best at schoolwork or finding clues to the Chamber incident, I was studying magic itself. I worked on my wandless magic and made my own spells when I had a viable idea. I was constantly running up to Dumbledore to show him my achievements but he always brushed me aside, too concerned about my 'perfect' brother."

Dumbledore looked ashamed of himself.

"When young Ginevra Weasley got herself trapped down in the Chamber, I ran into David on the way to the entrance. He, or more likely Ms. Granger, had figured out the location as well and wanted to save the sister of his best friend. I figured that it couldn't hurt to have him along and brought him with me, using my powers of parseltongue to open the passage into the Chamber.

"Reaching the end, I encountered a shade of Voldemort named Tom Riddle, which is his real name, who released the monster, a basilisk. Tom quickly knocked out David with his own wand and I was up against a sixty-foot snake that could kill me with a gaze into its eyes. Wishing for help to come and hoping for Dumbledore to come, a burst of fire appeared and Fawkes appeared with the Sorting Hat. Fawkes blinded the snake and I managed to find the Sword of Gryffindor.

"I managed to drive the sword into the roof of the snake's mouth and used a fang to destroy the diary that the shade of Voldemort had come from. David woke up right after Fawkes finished healing me and immediately took credit for killing the snake for Ginny. I knew it was hopeless to argue, David is the 'hero' and no one knew who I was."

James and Lily were both staring at David in disbelief. David was simply scowling at the table.

"And so ended my second year, I managed to get first in the year, beating all others in my attempt to find some form of approval from my so-called parents." Hermione looked down, she had disliked Danielle for a long time for beating her in the exams but she hadn't known how much the other girl had wanted it. She had ruined all chances at what could have been a great friendship over what David had said about her.

"I had worked so hard that year and I was so sure that James and Lily would finally love me," she gave a bitter laugh, "I should have known better."

No one really wanted her to finish the story but they needed to know what she would say next. Danielle took in a deep breath, "the looks on their faces when I got home for the summer was scary. The way they acted, one would have thought I had murdered their puppy. James took great pleasure in banishing me from the family for 'daring' to not learn my lesson. To make David feel bad again for doing better than him in school work, for 'daring' to claim I defeated a basilisk when I was worthless trash."

James looked horrible, Lily didn't look much better.

"I was thrown from my family home, this home, with the promise I wouldn't 'darken their doorstep again.' My trust vault in Gringotts was shut down so I had no money, I had no friends to turn to take me in thanks to David, all I had were the clothes on my back, my wand, and some camping supplies I had managed to take from the house before I was thrown out."

Even the hard Professor Snape and Moody looked horrified now. It was no secret that Snape had had a hard childhood, but to abandon a thirteen year old onto the streets was too much. Moody had seen some harsh things in the war but this was just barbaric.

"How did you survive?" asked Dumbledore and Danielle was pleased to find that at least he sounded regretful of his actions, or lack thereof.

"I found help," said Danielle simply. "I found a group of girls that had been forced into similar situations and they welcomed me in. The rest you wouldn't understand."

"Try us," said the bald black man next to Moody and Tonks that was probably an Auror.

Danielle snorted, "Right, okay, why not? Let's see how well this goes." She glanced at Thalia and Elizabeth, who nodded. "Alright, what do you know about the Greek gods?"

As she expected, she just got a lot of blank expressions. Greek Mythology was considered 'Muggle' so no one in the magical world ever bothered to learn it. Hermione and Lily seemed to know something though. Hermione spoke up, "you mean like Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, those gods?"

Danielle nodded, "yeah, they're real. I ran into lady Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and moon. She took me in as one of her Hunters, giving me her blessing as I took her oath. I'm technically immortal, as I cannot die unless I fall in combat. I'm forever thirteen. Thalia and Elizabeth are also Hunters I've run into."

The news that she had just told them was stunning, it couldn't be true, and yet…

"You're immortal?" asked Lily, stunned.

Danielle gave a cruel smirk, "as long as I don't fall in combat or break my oath, then yes. Lady Artemis has been the best mother figure I could ask for though, I don't think I'll be breaking it anytime soon."

"And that oath would be?" prompted Dumbledore.

Danielle rolled her eyes, "not like I could be forced to tell you, but if you must know, I must swear off men, meaning no dating. Second, I must always follow my lady's command, but she's like a mother to me, I wouldn't want to disobey her anyway."

"And you can prove this?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

Danielle gave her a deadpanned expression before sighing, her shoulders sagging. "Why not? Could one of you open the window then."

James did it, opening the window to allow the light to shine through while Danielle pulled out her wand. Using the same weak water spell as before, mist came out of the wand tip, making a rainbow.

Pulling out a drachma, she tossed it at the rainbow, aware that everyone was watching her. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." The golden coin vanished to the amazement of the people at the table, "show me Lady Artemis, goddess of the hunt."

The rainbow shimmered for a moment before showing Lady Artemis practicing archery with the Hunters. Danielle cleared her throat, "lady Artemis."

Lady Artemis didn't stop with her shot but fired off a perfect bulls eye before turning to face the Iris message. "Hello Danielle, Thalia, Elizabeth, I take it you are in Britain?"

Danielle nodded, "yes, the Potter family manor in Wales to be exact. Just wanted to give you an update as I don't know when I can call you again."

Artemis nodded, "of course. Just know that you are welcome here at anytime."

David, who had been watching silently at this point, couldn't anymore, "wait, you are a goddess? You look twelve!"

Artemis glared at him, "you should not test a goddess, boy." She spat out the last word. Then, just to spite him, she turned into her eighteen year old form in front of everyone then back again. "I can look any age I wish but I prefer the average age of my Hunters, which is about twelve to thirteen."

She turned back to Danielle and the hunters, "how is your hunt for this Voldemort going?"

Danielle sighed, "Haven't started yet. Lady Hecate decided it would be a good idea for us to talk to the resistance first before we try to do it alone. But thanks to Lord Hades and Lord Thantos, we should be done soon."

Lady Artemis nodded, "very well, I trust your judgment. Until then." She waved her hand through the rainbow and cut the connection.

The three hunters sat down at the table, the Order staring at them. Sighing again, Danielle answered, "That was called an Iris Message. Simply throw in a drachma and call out for Iris, the rainbow goddess, and if she is not busy she will take your call."

The Order just continued to stare at her in fascination. Danielle pinched the bridge of her nose, "first I couldn't get any attention and now that is one thing I have, I don't know if I should feel happy or not about that."

"Who were the others you mentioned?" asked Dumbledore, changing the subject.

"Lady Hecate is the goddess of magic. She told me one day that she was bored so she created the magical world. Muggleborns are just normal mortals that she blessed with magic. There is nothing special about being a pureblood, if anything it makes magic weaker since the child of such a pairing has two magical cores to stabilize before settling into one. Oh, and apparently she had a son named Merlin and another named Salazar Slytherin.

"Lord Hades is the god of the underworld where people go when they die. If one has led a good life, then they go to Elysium, which is the good place. If they had led a bad life, they go to the fields of punishment to be tortured. Finally, if one did an equal amount of good and evil, or just didn't do enough in their life to warrant either one, they go to the fields of Asphodel, where nothing happens at all.

"Finally, Lord Thantos, otherwise known as Death, is the god of Death. Hades may be the ruler of the underworld, but Thantos guides souls down into the underworld in the first place. By the way Dumbledore, Lord Thantos told me your days with his wand are numbered."

Dumbledore paled at the implication that Death wanted his wand, let alone the fact that the Greek gods existed. His plans to train Danielle might have gone down the tube by this point.

"Now then," said Danielle, "my friends and I are here to defeat Voldemort and then we'll be on the next plane or whatever back to America. I don't like being back and if it wasn't for Zeus basically ordering me here, I wouldn't have come back at all."

There was a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder at her words, despite it being a clear day in Wales. Danielle rolled her eyes, "you know what I mean Lord Zeus!"

Thunder rumbled again but it didn't sound as threatening as it did a second ago.

Hermione Granger shook her head. "First I get sucked into a world full of magic. Now gods? What next?"

Danielle snorted humorlessly. "Deal with it Granger. Magical Britain is old news. The only reason the gods allow the magical world to exist in the first place is because a few of their kids were witches and wizards as well. Face it, the world is bigger than you thought."

Hermione stared at her. "You don't like me, do you?"

Danielle leaned back into her chair. "I don't dislike you, Granger. You are too bossy for your own good. You have the intelligence to do just about anything but you are also blind as to how this world works. You rush off into things without thinking all the way through. So determined to fix things you think are wrong that you forget that maybe we do things for a reason."

David and Ron glared at her. "And how would you know that?" asked David.

Danielle smirked. "You just told me. Out of everyone here, Granger has the one to go the farthest but only when she pulls her head out of those damned books of hers and learn that life isn't something she can memorize. Let me guess, she thought that house elves are slaves?"

She didn't even need to hear anything they said to confirm it, their expressions were enough. "I thought so. House elves are bonded to a wizarding family so they keep their sanity and magic. It's a symbiotic relationship where the elf does what they love and the wizard gets a servant. Can it be abused? Of course. But so can any relationship.

"Muggleborns get so few perks in this system, it isn't funny. A Muggleborn witch gets even fewer. Lily got lucky and married the head of an Ancient and Noble family but you Granger, you would be lucky to marry Weasley here and spend the rest of your life being a housewife. Even Lily doesn't have a job or even respect right now, I'd imagine."

Hermione, stunned, looked at Lily who confirmed Danielle's words when the older woman looked pained and turned away.

"The best thing you could do would be to move out the country," Danielle continued. "With Voldemort running around, no one would blame you and you could actually find a decent life with someone." She leaned in close to Granger, who appeared to be in shock. "Do you really think that Weasley would allow you to have a job? A career? Think about it."

Hermione slumped in her seat, thinking about her life. She knew that magical Britain was 'totally barbaric' but she didn't think it would be as bad as the red head told her it was. Looking at Ron, she could see that he was glaring at Danielle. Was she right? Would Ron allow her to have a future beyond a housewife? She took a look at and she knew her answer. After this war was over, she would talk to her parents about possibly moving to France or even America. Maybe she could be a teacher?

"Now then," said Thalia, who put her boots back on the floor and leaning forward. "Since this is a war, how many of these Death Eaters have you taken out?"

Elizabeth nodded, "what about supply trains? Storage houses and the locations of various meeting places?"

"Have you figured out you can't win this by playing nice with the Death Eaters?" asked Danielle, glaring at them. At their stunned faces, she slammed her fists on the table. "Dammit! These people are trying to kill you all and you can't take off the kiddy gloves? Stunners and disarmers won't work! You need to shoot to incapacitate, if not kill. No wonder you're losing this war, horribly!"

Mrs. Weasley might not truly know what was going on, but she knew when she and Dumbledore were being insulted. "Don't talk to us that way!" The Weasley matriach swelled up in anger, "we're doing all we can right now! You shouldn't even be here, you're all too young for this war."

There was instant silence. Mrs. Weasley and Danielle glaring at each other. Thalia broke everyone out of their reverie by bursting out laughing.

"Oh, that is rich! You're telling me I'm too young to fight? I'm technically in my twenties and I've been fighting for my life since I ran away from home when I was nine. Heck, I've been fighting even before I ran away." She stood up, looking Mrs. Weasley right in the eye, "I don't know what your problem is lady but I've killed not only monsters, but people too, all to protect myself and my friends. Danielle and Elizabeth are my fellow Hunters and I love them like sisters but they have killed too, and without mercy. Don't try to spew your stupid philosophy down my throat as it won't work."

She sat back down, breathing heavily.

"I think you are all idiots," said Elizabeth. "You fear this guy, but he hasn't killed all that many people in relation to other dictators. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, both sons of Hades, killed far more people than this Voldemort person and non-magicals aren't afraid to say their names. I may not look like it but I'm actually one hundred fifty years old and I have to say that you are all cowards that just don't want to get your hands dirty, leaving us to do it for you."

Danielle took in a deep breath. "I personally don't care about any of you. Like Elizabeth said, you are all stupid and just waiting for me to save the day for you." She glared at them, "I should join Voldemort for everything you've done to me but I'll settle for killing him and leaving this country forever, never seeing any of you again. Don't like it? Too bad. I don't think-"

She stopped, frowning. She looked at the Order members who looked surprised that she had stopped her tirade. Her look suddenly turned several shades past furious and in a blur that only Thalia or Elizabeth could only just barely see, Danielle was on her feet.

The Order was stunned when one moment had Danielle yelling at them, then the next she was holding Snape against the wall of the kitchen, a bronze knife in her hand in a position that could behead him if they made a wrong move.

"If there is anything I hate, Professor," Danielle whispered in a soft but deadly voice that carried to the entire room. "Is arrogant little bastards that think that they could get away with looking around in my mind. Did you think that using Legilimancy on me would be a safe thing to do? Or are you just stupid?"

"Enough," Dumbledore almost shouted when it became clear that no one was rising to the greasy man's defense. "Danielle, please let him go."

Danielle was having way too much fun though and pressed the knife deeper into the man's neck. "Or what, Dumbledore? I'm apparently the 'chosen one.' The one who will solve all your problems before casting me aside again after my job is done. Besides, this guy has caused me all sorts of trouble when I was at Hogwarts; following me around like I was some clone of my mother. Disgusting."

She kicked Snape in his soft spot and looked satisfied as he slid down the wall, clutching his privates in pain.

Thalia broke the silence that fell again. "Man, that was awesome! Remember that guy in Canada that tried to flirt with me before you did that same exact thing?"

Danielle shrugged, "that was a few years ago but yeah, that was fun. Maybe being around man hating girls has rubbed off on me more than I thought."

Sirius decided right then and there to keep away from all teenage girls, no matter what, they were vicious and liked pain way too much.

"Now then," said Danielle calmly, like nothing had happened. "What are you doing about Voldemort's horcruxes?"

Several people, like Moody, Kingsley, and Sirius, started. Dumbledore however, was getting worried that someone would say something that shouldn't be said.

"Wait," said Sirius. "He created those things? Wait again, he created more than one?"

Moody shook his head, "looks like it, Black. That would explain the horrible mutations he went through. If I had to guess, he probably created either three, five or seven, as those are the most powerfully magical numbers."

"What is a horcrux?" asked Hermione, trying to figure out what the three adults were talking about.

Before Dumbledore could do some damage control, Danielle laughed. "Oh, that is so Dumbledore! The very key to defeating Voldemort, and he didn't tell any of you! Really, I only found out a little bit ago but he has been trying to defeat Voldemort for years and only a few of you know! This is priceless!"

Dumbledore tried to use his most grandfatherly expression. "Danielle, it wasn't time to go after them. And I only found out about the horcruxes a few years ago and-"

"And you did nothing for years." Danielle finished. "I thought you wanted to defeat this guy, not wait around for me to come back to hold everyone's hand while I do it. By the way, Dumbledore, when were you going to tell me that my old scar used to be a horcrux? Oh, that's right, you never paid any attention to me enough to find out."

That got Dumbledore's attention. "You, you got rid of a horcrux that was inside of you?"

Danielle rolled her eyes, "oh don't look so shocked. Accepting partial immortality by a goddess does wonders in purging one's systems of foreign soul fragments. Yeah, for those who don't know, a horcrux is something that a dark wizard can put a bit of their soul into to prevent them from dying. Old Tommy boy apparently made me into one when he failed to kill me that night but it's gone now."

Hermione's eyes widened, "that was why you could speak Parseltongue! You could harness his powers through the horcrux!"

Danielle nodded, "looks like a few of you aren't stupid. The horcrux is gone though so no more talking to snakes for me. Although, Hecate is the goddess of magic and her sacred animal is a snake…how else do you think there are snake speakers and not any other kind of speaker? I mean, really, the power to talk to badgers or lions? That's just stupid. But since Hecate created the magical world, she blessed her kids so they could speak to the noble snake."

"Kind of like how Percy can talk to horses since they were created by Poseidon," said Thalia. "Gee, thanks dad, how come I can't talk to eagles or something?"

Most of the Order were trying to figure out how Salazar Slytherin was a son of Hecate so they jumped when Danielle got their attention back on track.

"Now, as I was saying, how many horcruxes have you destroyed old man?" she asked Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sighed, "I was trying to find you, so I am afraid that my search for horcruxes were a bit lackluster."

Danielle snorted, "just wanted me to the dirty work in other words. Right, Elizabeth, where's the list that Thantos gave us?"

They watched as Elizabeth reached into her bag and pulled out a scroll, which was unfurled for Danielle to read. "Right, so we have the locket of Slytherin, the cup of Hufflepuff, the diadem of Ravenclaw, his snake familiar, and a ring that his uncle had. The diary that I destroyed in my second year and the one in my scar are gone so we don't have to worry about those."

She looked up at Sirius. "According to this, your house of Grimmauld Place has the locket of Slytherin. Mind telling me about that?"

Sirius looked confused, before thinking of something that might work. "Kreacher!"

With a crack, an ugly and old house elf appeared out of nowhere beside the table. He gave a low bow, "master Sirius called for Kreacher?" In a whisper under his breath that was loud enough for all to hear him, he continued. "Kreacher is ashamed that the dog man is his master. Oh, what would mistress say if she found out?"

"Kreacher," said Danielle, knowing that this was a house elf under the Black family and would be a great help. "Pipe down and listen. Do you know about the locket of Slytherin?"

Kreacher's eyes widened, "Kreacher does, shamed member of the Potter family." James and Lily winced. "Kreacher was asked by master Regulas to destroy the locket many years ago. Kreacher tried and tried but could not do it."

"You have the locket!" Thalia asked. "Where is it now?"

Kreacher shuddered. "Kreacher does not know, child of lightning. When Master Sirius took control of the Black family, he threw away many things. Kreacher saved the locket but the cowardly sneak thief stole it before Kreacher could stop him. Kreacher punished himself for not following master Regulas's orders but could not do anything about it."

"Mundungous Fletcher stole it!" Sirius demanded. "Great, just what I needed. To find out my brother wasn't truly evil and stole a horcrux from the great bastard only to have it stolen."

Danielle raised a hand to silence Sirius. "Kreacher, you can get in and out of the houses that are under house Black's protection, correct?"

Kreacher crossed his arms and turned around. "Krecher does not have to listen to filthy blood traitor girl. Even if she does smell like the hunt and moon."

Danielle sighed and leaned back in her chair before pulling out her wand. "Kreacher, I don't want to have to do this but, _domus elf obtemperandum_."

To everyone's amazement, when the house elf heard the words she had said, he instantly stood straight and came over to her. "What can Kreacher do for mistress?"

Danielle sighed again. "Kreacher, can you get into the houses and vaults under house Black's protection," she asked again.

Kreacher nodded, "yes mistress, Kreacher can do that."

Danielle nodded, "are the LeStranges under such guidelines?" She was hoping and praying that this would work.

Kreacher nodded again, "yes mistress, such a condition was part of the marriage contract between the houses of Black and LeStrange when Bellatrix married Rudolphus."

Danielle ignored Sirius's murderous mutterings about ending such an alignment as soon as possible. "Kreacher, I think that Bellatrix put an item, a cup with a badger on it, into her vault, could you go get it please? It should have the same dark aura that the locket did."

Kreacher nodded and was gone with a crack. Danielle sighed and banged her head against the table, "I didn't want to use that spell."

"What spell was that?" asked Hermione, thinking that it should be destroyed.

With her head still on the table, Danielle answered. "That was a spell that Hecate created that would make a house elf obey the caster for six hours. When the high elves left this plane of existence, leaving only the elves that would someday become house elves, Hecate thought it would be helpful to have a spell handy that would temporarily turn a house elf against their old master. She thought it would be funny for one's own servants to kill their masters."

Thalia snorted, "no wonder Hecate joined Kronos in the Titan war, if she came up with spells like that."

Danielle nodded, "true. The spell only works for a person once a decade, however, and it was forgotten for centuries. I'm probably the only one who knows everything required to cast the spell anyway."

Any more talking was cut off with another loud crack, Kreacher was back and he was holding the cup of Hufflepuff.

"Kreacher got the cup, mistress."

"Good work Kreacher, back up now." When he had done so after putting the cup on the table, Danielle pulled out her knife and stabbed it without delay.

She was honestly expecting more of a reaction, but other than a scream and a small pulse of magic that threw many Order Members back, there was nothing. When everything died down, the Cup had gone from being a perfect gold to a dull bronze color. The badger had been blasted off the cup and the whole thing looked like molten slag.

"Three down, four more to go," said Elizabeth as she crossed off the cup from her list. "Why didn't it try to kill you or something?"

"I'm guessing, but if I had to say why, it would be because I didn't activate the defenses," Danielle said. "The diary tried to kill me because it was written in. I bet the protective enchantments would have activated only if I tried to drink out of it or something."

"Well," said Dumbledore, getting everyone's attention back onto him. "This has been an illuminating meeting, but I think we should pick this up again next time. Danielle, I trust that you could probably stay in your old room for the night and-"

"Whoa, whoa," said Danielle, holding up her hands. "What do you mean about me staying here? No thanks. I rather stay in the woods with my sisters, thank you." When it became Dumbledore was about to argue, Danielle stopped him. "I have not been a student for years, so you have no capacity over me as headmaster. I am not a part of the Wizengamot so your position as Chief Warlock is useless, as is your title of Supreme Mugwump. Face it; you have no power over me.

"Lily and James are not a part of my family, as they happily left me, so they have no influence over me as well. Thalia, Elizabeth, I think that our job here is done. Kreacher, obey Sirius will you?"

Kreacher bowed. "Of course mistress."

Dumbledore and several others rose from their seats, including Remus Lupin, Molly Weasley the black Auror, and Tonks. "Danielle," said Dumbledore in a grandfatherly voice, "it would be for the best if you stay here."

Danielle sighed and stood up as well. "Thalia, Elizabeth, are you ready to go?"

Thalia snorted and rose from her chair. "I was ready to go the moment I got here. These guys have no clue what they're doing."

Elizabeth nodded and did the same. "These guys could hardly fight their way out of a paper bag if this Dumbledore guy didn't tell them how first. I say we leave."

"Danielle," said Lily. She hadn't risen, but it was clear that unlike David, she did feel bad about what she had done. Not enough to stop Dumbledore in what was essentially kidnap, but enough to want to make peace with her daughter. "Please, come back to us."

Danielle looked at her, her frown didn't soften, but her tone did. "You didn't want me back, none of you wanted Danielle. You wanted the girl-who-lived. Everyone here wanted the 'chosen one,' but not me. I can't stay here and you know it."

She nodded to Thalia and Elizabeth and she wandlessly banished the table over, creating a cover and a distraction at the same time. In the confusion, Thalia and Elizabeth pulled out a smoke bomb that was left over from the Titan war and covered the entire room in fog, allowing them time to escape as everyone was busy coughing.

Dumbledore was the only one who was still calm. "We need the chosen one! Danielle!"

It was useless. No matter how fast Dumbledore was, his years were catching up with him and he was the only one who was willing or able to try to stop them. Sirius, Moody, and several others just watched them go, protecting themselves from the flying table but allowing them to go.

While the old headmaster was still fast, he couldn't keep up with the speed of three running Hunters trained by a goddess and their sisters for years and they made it to the edge of the ward line in no time.

Dumbledore was forced to stand and watch at who could be the only one able to defeat Voldemort leave without his help. Turning back, he saw that the flying table had injured several while others were furious that the girls had escaped that easily. He sighed; he had the feeling that with a combination of both the Potters and Mrs. Weasley shrieking up a storm, it would be a very long day.

**(Diagon Alley)**

With a loud pop, the three girls appeared on the front steps of the marble white building of Gringotts. Thalia and Elizabeth staggered as they tried to regain their bearings.

"Darn it, Danielle," said Thalia. "I hate apparition."

Elizabeth nodded as she waited for the dizziness to go away, "got that right."

Danielle shrugged, "sorry guys, I just wanted to get away from Potter Manor and I'm not that good at apparition yet. Anyway, we're here."

Both girls looked at tall imposing building. The bank was the only place that was actually seeing business as the rest of the street was disserted. The war was obviously making everyone too scared to leave their homes. Windows were boarded, doors were smashed in, and Danielle wouldn't have been surprised if a few tumbleweeds actually blew down the street.

"Tell me again, why Gringotts is the only place that hasn't been attacked here?" asked Elizabeth.

"Goblins run the bank," said Danielle, as if it explained everything. "They're a warrior race and the bank is sovereign territory. The Ministry of Magic has no power here and Tommy boy knows better than to tick off the goblins."

"Wait," said Thalia before they could go inside. "The whole of magical Britain only has one bank that everybody depends on but they insult the goblins as many times as they can get away with, just because they are not human?"

Danielle smirked, "the way you say it, makes it sound stupid, I know. The way I see it, magical Britain isn't too bright."

Smiling, the three Hunters all walked into the bank, nodding at the armored goblins at the door, who looked surprised at the gesture but did the same. The bank didn't have any customers at all. There were no lines, no waits, just goblins sitting at their stations either doing some small paperwork or twiddling their thumbs.

Every goblin turned to face them when they walked in, looking eager to do something to disrupt the boredom, even if it meant dealing with rude humans.

Danielle calmly walked to the first goblin she saw while the other two gawked at the goblins, never seeing one before. Thalia had to fight her first instinct of killing them, they did look like monsters a little, but she managed to make do. Elizabeth just seemed stunned at the huge building, the marble floors and the huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

"Greetings," said Danielle to the goblin teller. "May your fortunes never waver and your enemies fall by your blade. I am here to request a blood lineage test."

The other goblins in the room, not having anything else to do, were stunned by this human girl actually showing respect, something that was a bit of a novelty as of late. Not only did she greet them in an honorable way, but also 'requested' her purpose, not demanding it. This human peaked a lot of their interests.

The goblin teller looked at her, "and to whom am I referring to? Just so I can tell the one in charge of such things who to expect."

Danielle nodded, "my name used to be Danielle Potter."

The goblin nodded, "one moment." He left.

Danielle waited patiently and turned to look at her companions when it turned out that they were too stunned by the building to do anything other than look dumbfounded.

Thalia seemed to shake out of the daze first and tried to wait patiently as well but her demigod instincts were telling her to keep moving. She kept turning around, her hand on her can of mace that could turn into her spear, looking agitated.

Elizabeth didn't have as bad a case of ADHD that Thalia had but was bored as well. She was trying to see if she could make the flames on the candles and the torch brackets flicker, strengthen, or weaken depending on her mood. So far, she could influence the magical fire a little but not to a point where it was actually noticeable.

The goblin came back after being gone about ten minutes and gestured them to follow him. Leading them to an office off the main room, they saw that the goblin was waiting for them behind his desk. He was older than the others they had seen; with steel grey hair and a few more wrinkles than the ones that worked as tellers. He was unmistakably a warrior though, with his still dominating figure and strong demeanor. According to the nameplate on his desk, his name was Grabclaw.

Danielle bowed slightly upon entering the room. "Master goblin, thank you for your time."

Thalia and Elizabeth quickly copied her movements before all three of them sat down.

Grabclaw raised an eyebrow at the formal response but did not comment, he would have to keep an eye on these girls wearing silver and black, along with their faint silvery glow.

"A pleasure to meet the former Ms Potter," said Grabclaw. "Now then, I understand you wish for an inheritance test?"

Danielle nodded, "more of a blood lineage test, but yes. I understand that I can take the last name, along with the headship of that family, of any house in my lineage. I was made aware that I am descended from the Peverell family."

That got Grabclaw's attention. The Peverell family was almost as old as the founders!

"The Peverell family is only a Noble house so it is not too prestigious, but it would be beneficial to claim head of house status for it. You are not fully human, are you?"

Danielle raised an eyebrow, as well as Thalia's and Elizabeth's.

"How do you figure that?" asked Danielle, not liking where this was going.

Grabclaw seemed to figure out what was wrong. "You misunderstand, I was merely pointing out the obvious. With the hidden weapons, the silver glow, and the fact that you are all young maidens; it is clear that you are Hunters of Diana."

The Hunters were stunned, not expecting them to be found out so soon.

"Is that a problem?" asked Thalia slowly, wanting to go for her bow or spear.

"Not at all," said Grabclaw. "We at Gringotts have the utmost respect for the Greek and Roman gods. Lady Diana in particular was a favorite here when the heart of the west was in Britain about two to three hundred years ago."

Elizabeth nodded while Thlaia relaxed slightly. "What do you mean by 'Diana?' We're Hunters of Artemis."

Grabclaw nodded, "ah, you haven't figured out the difference then. My apologies, but we prefer the Roman names but we have gotten off topic. You, young lady, wanted a lineage test."

Danielle nodded, "I do. Before we start though, I have to ask if there is anything unpleasant I would have to deal with. Marriage contracts, outstanding debts, that kind of thing."

Grabclaw tapped a rune on his desk and a younger goblin came rushing in. "You called?"

"Yes," said Grabclaw. "I want you to go into the archives and find anything and everything you have on the Peverell family."

The goblin nodded, "it will be done as soon as possible." He left.

"Now then," said Grabclaw. "While that that is being handled, we can start your test." He reached into a drawer on his desk and pulled out a huge sheet of parchment that he rolled out on top of his desk. He then took out a small bowl and a silver knife.

"All you must do is use the knife to make a small cut and fill the bowl with some blood. Once enough blood is gathered, we will be able to see if you are who you say you are."

Danielle nodded and picked up the knife. Using the utmost care, she made a small cut and allowed the blood to fall into bowl. The cut sealed itself right after enough blood was gathered.

Grabclaw added a drop of a potion from a bottle he had gotten from one of the shelves behind him and picked up the bowl; swirling the contents like a prospector would when trying to find gold.

He finally muttered something in the native language of the goblins and poured the contents of the bowl onto the parchment. The parchment seemed to absorb the blood and potion mixture; a moment later a large family tree appeared.

"Everyone carries the blood of their ancestors inside of them. With this parchment and the potion combined, we can see all of the people one is related to even remotely. Especially the ones that one is able to inherit the head of house status for."

On top of the family tree was the name 'Danielle No-Name, formally Potter.' There were branches that extended with a single line for David Potter while a double line connected her name with James and Lily Potter.

Danielle gazed at the parchment, she knew of many of the names, or at least their surnames, but some were a mystery to her. She saw her grandmother Dorea Black had married her grandfather Charlus Potter. Even the non-magical side was included and found her other grandparents, Violet and Briar Evans along with a Petunia Dursley that was her mother's sister. It seemed that plant names ran in her mother's family.

Other names she knew she would find, like Sirius Black. That led to the Black family, which included the three Black sisters: Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa. The Malfoys along with the Longbottoms were included, as well as others that she had never heard of.

"Here," said Grabclaw. He was looking on the opposite end of the parchment than the one she was looking at. "According to this; your ancestor Alexandria Peverell, a granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell, married an Edmund Potter in the twelfth century. Congratulations, just sign a few forms, and your name will be Danielle Peverell."

Danielle was stunned. She had a last name again. After years of being ashamed of not having a last name and being called, 'No-Name,' she could move on. She would never admit it but it had hurt every time she had been called that, whether it be from monsters, gods, or Titans. It felt like she had closure in her life.

Refusing to let some unshed tears fall, she focused on the younger goblin that had come back with the records.

Grabclaw went over the notes quickly. "Nothing seems to be out of place. No debts that had been made hundreds of years ago, no marriage contracts, nothing that would make this harder than it would otherwise be."

Danielle found her voice again, "would I have to provide an heir for the line because I am telling you only once, that is not going to happen."

Grabclaw gave a toothy smile that made all three girls flinch slightly. "No, the records are clear that the only thing you must do is accept the seat on the Wizengamot. But as it is a seat for a Noble house, you are not required to attend any meetings or make any decisions. It is merely symbolic. Even then, you don't actually have to accept the seat, only if you want to vote in your Wizengamot."

Danielle nodded, glad that nothing was standing in her way in this. She just wanted to be known as something other than just Danielle the Hunter. This was a good way to reconnect with her past and honor her ancestors.

"Just sign these forms and then we will finish by taking you down to the Peverell family vault." He held out the forms he had referred to while Elizabeth reached over and took the records of what the Peverell family actually held in its vault. Signing the parchment, she gave it back to Grabclaw just as Elizabeth finished.

Grabclaw stood up and shook Danielle's hand; "it was a pleasure for someone as polite as you to interrupt the boredom. I hope we do business again someday. Come, I will lead you down to your vault."

The trip to the vault was a blast. Danielle and Thalia were whooping and yelling in delight in the mine cart as they rode while Elizabeth just huddled on the floor of the cart, not liking the speed.

When they got to the vault, they saw that it was a large door with a handprint in the center. Grabclaw stood next to them.

"All you must do is place your hand in the designated area and see if the magic in the door accepts you. If it does, it will remember you and will open whenever you come back. If it does not…it will not be pleasant."

Frowning at the goblin's look of disinterest at their possible demise, Danielle walked forward and put her hand on the door. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the door clicked open and swung forward.

"Nice," said Thalia, already making her way inside.

The inside of the vault wasn't that big, compared to others Danielle had seen. Then again, she had only seen the inside of the main Potter vault once but that had been twice as big as this one. Nevertheless, the Peverell vault was about fifty feet long and forty feet wide. Small stacks of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts were in one corner, maybe about two hundred Galleons in total; not much all things considered.

But the more impressive things in the room were the weapons. As the Peverell family was ancient, having roots that traced back to the ninth century, the family had needed a means of protecting itself from others.

All along the walls were suits of armor that would not look out of place in a museum. Huge suits of chain mail along with the heavier sets of plate armor. Swords, lances, bows, maces, spears, and other weapons all hung on the walls. There were some glass cases along the back that held about two dozen spare wands along with a couple of staffs. Even some weapons that definitely did not look European were there, like what looked like a Bo staff along with a katana or two.

"Yes," said Grabclaw as he entered. "The Peverell family and those before them were known for exploring the world, wanting to know everything possible to defeat their enemies and protect the family."

"Your family is so cool," muttered Thalia, already looking at how her spear compared to one she had taken off one of the walls.

"According to the records I just read," said Elizabeth. "This vault contains about one hundred, ninety six Galleons, twenty-two Sickles and three Knuts. Whatever those are. But these weapons have to be worth something."

Danielle shook her head. "Whatever we need, you can take if you want to. This might not be the best armory in the world but if something you like gets your attention, then go for it."

Thalia and Elizabeth nodded and started examining the weaponry. A pedestal in the middle of the room that had a silvery looking cloak on it however caught Danielle's attention. Frowning, she reached the pedestal and saw that it was holding what looked to be an invisibility cloak.

"This is James's. How did this get here?" No sooner had she said that when she thought she had seen a black feather, like from a black wing, appear in the corner of her eye. When she turned though, there was nothing.

"If I may?" asked Grabclaw as he approached. "I took the liberty to examine the specifics of this family and found a clause revealing something about this cloak. As it turns out, while any of Peverall blood can use it, only a true Peverell can call for it whenever they wish. As you have taken the last name, the cloak finds you the one true owner."

She mentally grinned; it looked like Thantos did want her to have the cloak.

Danielle nodded and stared at the cloak. She remembered the day that James gave it to David all too well. It was right before their first trip to Hogwarts and James had made it a big deal about giving this cloak to his son, right in front of her but refusing to acknowledge her at the same time. It was like he found it amusing to infuriate her at the time.

She was angry enough to destroy the cloak just to spite James but decided to hang onto it, Thantos wouldn't like it if she did that and she did not need an enemy with the god of death. That, and the fact she didn't even know if she could destroy it if she wanted to. Sighing, she stuffed the cloak into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, turning to look at her friends.

Thalia was playing with another spear, pretending to strike down invisible foes with two spears at the same time. She eventually shrugged, put the other spear away and turned to face her.

"Ready to go?"

Danielle nodded and Elizabeth came back, a new sword hanging from her waist.

"What?" asked Elizabeth. "You get a wand, Thalia gets a spear and a shield, and I want a weapon other than my bow and knives too."

Both girls laughed.

"Just as long as the sword will protect you, I don't mind you taking it," said Danielle. And she didn't. Anything that could save a Hunter's life, she would willingly give to her from her vault.

All three girls nodded and turned to Grabclaw.

"I think we're ready to go."

Grabclaw nodded, "good. I'll take you to the surface, thank you again for breaking the monotony of my days since your blasted wizard war started."

If Tom the barkeep was surprised to see three teenage girls dressed in silver and black and wielding weapons in his pub, he didn't let on. Of course, Danielle had seen hags and vampires in here so Tom had probably seen a lot of strange things.

"So," said Thalia as they waited for their food to get their table. "Now what?"

Danielle leaned back into her booth, contemplating the situation. "We need to find out more about what we are hunting. Names of Death Eaters to take out, locations of various warehouses, things like that."

"And how do you propose we do that?" asked Elizabeth.

Danielle smiled, "what do you think of attacking some poor male and forcing him to spill his guts?"

The other two gave evil smiles, starting to like this plan.

"I just need to think about how we are going to do this, but I think I can think of a few ideas," said Danielle as their food showed up.

In a dark corner of the pub The Wand and Dagger sat a man that was unknown by many, but it was obvious he commanded respect. The pub in Nockturn Alley was a haven for those that dealt in the black-market of magic. It had everything from illegally obtained house elves to rare and expensive potions, to weapons that would make even the toughest Auror think twice. Anything and everything a shop can unload can be sold off the barrel at The Wand and Dagger, as long as it was illegal.

The man in question was simply drinking some firewhiskey in the dirty, run down pub that made the Hog's Head at Hogsmeade look like a five-star hotel. His name was Simon Rosier, cousin of Evan Rosier, the famous inner circle member in Voldemort's Death Eaters and while he wasn't too high in the hierarchy, was no slouch in a duel himself.

For years, he was a hit man for hire. If any government wanted someone brought to justice-or killed-he would do it. When he heard that Voldemort was back seemingly from the dead, he got in contact with his cousin and in no time, he obtained the dark mark.

He honestly didn't care much for pureblood supremacy himself but he wouldn't stand against it. Anything that gave him a steady supply of people to kill or torture and he was happy. He had completely lost count of how many he had killed in the name of his dark lord but he honestly didn't care. They were simply bags of flesh and bones to him, no matter what their names were, and would be all too happy to kill whoever Voldemort wanted him to, no questions asked.

It was about eleven at night when he figured that he had spent enough time at the pub and left, feeling slightly drunk. Not wanting to apparate in his inebriated state for fear of splinching himself, he dragged his body through Nockturn Alley. His reputation kept people away from him, even when he was not quite sober, he staggered toward the Leaky Cauldron so he could work off his drunken state.

He did not notice a small and colorless spell hit him in the back.

Finding himself traveling down a lesser-known side street, he found himself in some sort of small courtyard. Confused how he winded up here of all places, he suddenly realized that his vision was going black. The darkness around him was getting deeper, the stars seemed to darken slightly, and he found his hearing slightly muffled.

He pulled out his wand. 'What is going on?' he thought.

"La, la. La la la."

A little's girl's voice started singing in a high pitched and creepy tone. He turned around but the voice seemed to be coming from the darkness itself. Panicking, he fired a few curses but they merely hit the walls, not even making enough light to see what was around him.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

"La la, la la la."

The voice was getting louder and seemed to be coming toward him. He tried a simple lumos charm but the darkness seemed so complete that it couldn't be lit.

He backed away, trying to find his way out but every direction he ran into, he found a solid wall blocking his way. All the time, that little girl's voice was getting louder.

"J, just show yourself. The dark lord will punish you for this! I am one of his most loyal followers!"

The girl's voice stopped singing and starting laughing, a little girl's laughter that somehow brought about him dread. Laughter like that was not supposed to be this frightening.

"One of the dark lord's most loyal?" the girl's voice rang out in a slightly mocking tone. "That title seems to be passed around a lot. But, I want to play. Do you?"

"I-"

He couldn't say anything else before he was face to face with a figure in black and silver clothes. The figure's face was completely covered in shadow so it was impossible to make out but it was clearly a teenage girl.

Before he could do anything, the girl jumped forward with amazing inhuman speed, kicked the wand out of his hand and had him pinned against a wall, unable to move.

"That was fun," the girl whispered. "But too easy, no, I think that killing you should be much more fun." She gave a girlish giggle that sounded much too like Bellatrix playing with her victims for his taste.

Simon couldn't do or say anything before the girl pulled out a bronze knife and started looking at him, at least he thought that was what she was doing with her face covered.

"P, please let me go," he tried pleading.

"Let you go," she said slowly, as if trying out each word. "I don't know, what do you think? T? E?"

Simon looked up and saw two other figures just like the first one. He saw one of them pick up his wand and without even pulling out a wand or casting a spell, lit it on fire in front of him. He was stunned; destroying a wizard's wand in front of them was the ultimate form of humiliation for the owner of the wand.

The third figure seemed to smile. "Interesting, magic users seem too reliant on their little sticks, don't you think E?"

The one who had burned his wand nodded, "I agree T, wizards are too easy to beat."

The first figure nodded and turned back to him. "Now then, I believe that you have some information for me. Disagree, and I think it would be painful for you. What do you say?"

Simon growled as much as he was able. "**** You!"

"Touchy, touchy," the figure mocked, wagging her finger in front of him. "T, do what you do best."

The third figure seemed to be grinning. Taking a deep breath, she, he could tell it was a she, held out her hand and a huge bolt of lightning was shot at him, covering his entire form with electricity.

It was pain the likes of which that even the Cruciatas curse was a close second. The feeling of having every cell of his body overloading with the lightning was going to make him pass out soon.

Just as he wished for the welcoming feeling of unconsciousness, it stopped. Hanging limply about half way up the wall he was being pinned against, he looked up to see the third figure looked a little tired but ready for more.

The first figure approached him. "Little more compliant now? Tell us everything you know about your pathetic dark lord, and we might let you live. Refuse, and the death eaters won't even find most of your body."

Her voice sent a chill down his back for some reason, despite the lightning still coursing through his system. Looking up, he could see the second figure conjuring a fireball in her hand while the third seemed to be coating her body with lightning. The first figure just played with her knife, but it was obvious she knew how to use it.

He was doomed either way. The dark lord would not like what he was about to do but there was something that he had in similar to Peter Pettigrew.

He was a coward.

Only being able to be powerful if he had the advantage, he folded quickly when the odds were against him. Well, they were against him now all right.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you."

The first figure seemed to grin under the shadows of her hood. "Good boy. Now, who is in the Death Eaters?"

Simon gave off names, a lot of them, everyone he knew by name. It was a big list, over one hundred names and dozens of surnames. When he was done, he was asked about how many safe locations they had as well as supply routes, dates of Death Eater meetings and the overall strength of Voldemort's army.

When he was done, the first figure seemed to smile evilly. "Good boy. Now then, a little parting gift."

Not understanding, Simon was dropped to the ground roughly where he lied spread eagled on the ground. He managed to see the other two figures watching as the first banished his shirt with her wand before sending a strange looking jet of light at his chest. He shouted out in pain and passed out soon after. He would live, but it would take a while to heal.

With a flying leap, all three figures vanished from the courtyard, not leaving any sign of them being there at all.

It would take hours for Simon to be found, still passed out, with a strange looking symbol on his chest. No one could see how he could make the symbol of a bow and arrow overlapping a crescent moon, cut right into his flesh.

**Girl-Who-Lived, Back on British Soil!**

By Rita Skeeter

_It has come to my attention that Danielle Peverell (formally Potter) has come back to her birth home of Britain after all these years! Has she come to help us in our time of need against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Has she come for revenge against those who had done her wrong? Or has she come to possibly join the feared Dark Lord?_

_Danielle is the long lost twin of David Potter, ex boy-who-lived, who vanished without a trace several years ago when she was banished from her ancestral home. The exact details are unknown but it is clear that the fate of the magical world lies in the hands of a young woman who has no reason to help us. _

_It came to a shock about two years ago when You-Know-Who revealed his presence in the Ministry of Magic and showed the magical world that David's sister, whom very few people knew existed at that time, was the one to survive the killing curse on that night at Godric's Hallow, (For more on that night, see page 5). Ever since that night, Minister Fudge has been trying to find her to rally the troops behind her._

_"I am sure that she is an pivotal role of this war," said Fudge when he heard the news last Tuesday. "She is pivotal in this upcoming battle and I would formally like to extend my hand in friendship to her and see her brought back to her rightful place in society." Minister Fudge has stated that his words do not reflect the fact that his re-election is coming up next year._

_As for the Peverell part of her name? That, my dear readers, is quite the story. The Peverell family is an old one, as old as the Hogwarts founders, but has never achieved much social status. Only a Noble house, it does have a seat of the Wizengamot but not much gold to their name. Witnesses reveal that Danielle was seen walking into Gringotts late into the afternoon yesterday. Are the goblins in on this?_

_When I did some digging in the old archives, I was able to find Danielle's marks from Hogwarts before she was banished. She had only managed to attend two years in Hufflepuff but she was one of the top of the class, making number one in her second year._

_I asked Professors McGonagall and Sprout about her and they had very little to say in the matter._

_"She was a brilliant Hufflepuff," said one Pomona Sprout, Herbology teacher at Hogwarts and head of Huffpuff house. "She was loyal to a fault to those brave enough to stand up for her. Not sure why but people tended to avoid her, I heard rumors that her brother David spread nasty stories about her that made her unpopular but I was never able to catch him doing that."_

_"She was a wonderful student," said Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor house. "As smart as any Ravenclaw and as brave as any Gryffindor. I have heard the rumors that her brother was mean to her as well but I never saw anything like that, and the students at that time wouldn't say anything either. I do know that she had an affinity to rush to Dumbledore when she made a discovery of her own but it never seemed to amount to much."_

_Had Danielle been experimenting with her magic? Just how close to Dumbledore was she if nothing ever came out of it? Why would Hogwarts let her go if she was such a brilliant student?_

_When asked what she has been doing all this time, her parents had this to say, "I am proud of our little girl," said James Potter, age 38. "She was here at the manor a little while ago and has told us that she plans to battle the threat of You-Know-Who as soon as possible."_

_When asked, again, of where she has been all this time, Lily Potter, age 38, had this to say, "we honestly have no clue where she was but she has contacted us once or twice as she learned to battle the Dark Arts. It was needed at the time to banish her but we never stopped caring about her."_

_Not everyone is happy that Danielle is back. "The blasted girl should have stayed wherever she was," said one Lucius Malfoy, age 43. "She was banished for a reason, who knows what she has learned wherever she was. For all we know, she could be joining those cursed Death Eaters."_

_While it is true that Danielle obviously has no love for Britain if she was banished and left the country entirely, the fact that her parents and professors have such a good memory of her is heartwarming. But Mr. Malfoy does have a point, if Danielle has experimented with magic in her spare time, which is to say that she hasn't been studying the dark arts?_

_(For more on Danielle, see page 3)_

_(For more on the Peverell family, see page 6)_

_(For more on Fudge's reelection campaign, see page 7)_

**Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton**

Voldemort threw down his copy of the Daily Prophet in disgust. Danielle Peverell was back in this country? Well, he would just have to deal with he brat soon enough. It wasn't like he didn't know how to deal with people he didn't like, after all.

He looked around the room he was in. The fact that this manor had belonged to his deceased father's family hadn't seemed to be noticed by any of his Death Eaters. Then again, none of them knew anything about his past. He preferred it that way.

Most of his powers came from the fact that hardly anyone knew anything about him or what he was capable of. True, he was powerful, but most of it came from myths and rumors about supposed abilities he did not have. For example, he did not have the power kill someone with a mere glance into his eyes. He was not a basilisk, thank you.

The most powerful dark lord in the last century sat on his throne and contemplated what this one brat coming to Britain meant to his reign of terror. He would never admit it to anyone but he found it amusing that Dumbledore and the rest of the magical world thought that David Potter was the boy-who-lived. He knew whom he had attacked that night!

It was a curious thing. He had spent all the time leading to the attack on Godric's Hallow on trying to find a way past the Fidelious charm but had not spent a second on wondering which child to attack. He had known that there had been two, Severus and Pettigrew had told him as such, but he had filed it into the back of his mind at the time. Useless information at the time.

When it came time to pick which one to kill, he had honestly been stumped. Severus had heard something about the 'mark them as his equal' part of the prophecy but he didn't know which one it would be. He had burst into the nursery and after he had killed Dorea Black, he had turned his wand on the two infants. The boy had started to cry at once but the girl had only watched him with polite interest.

He remembered his time in the orphanage very well; how he had hardly ever cried and only if he needed something he couldn't get from someone else. The lines of the prophecy and the fact that the boy had been crying his eyes out implied that he was not the one he was destined to kill. So, he had attacked the girl, thinking she would be the bigger threat.

Oh how much pain he was in that night.

The feeling of being ripped from his body and forced into a sort of spirit form had been agonizing. Looking back, he realized that the same thing would have happened either way. Blood protection, he still hated that phrase. How many parents and grandparents sacrifice their lives for their kids on a regular basis? And here was a brat that had reflected his own killing curse back at him like it was nothing because of it!

And so, he had gone back to a faraway forest that only he knew of when he had traveled there in his youth. Albania was a lovely place to go when one is less than a spirit. The self-imposed exile until someone could help him get a body back had been torture but at least he had found someone. Yes, Quirrell was a poor choice but he had had no other option at the time. He had learned that the Flamels were safeguarding their stone with Dumbledore so he had launched an attack on Gringotts to get it before it was moved.

And yet he had failed.

Not only did that brainless oaf Hagrid get the stone to Dumbledore before he could steal it, but it was locked behind defenses that had taken a whole year to find out about. Quirrell had been little more than a puppet, but he was good enough to follow orders and get around every challenge. Hah! First years could have broken through all of them! Devil's snare, flying keys, a chess set, and a potion's riddle? Child's play for someone like him.

Than David Potter decided to play a hero and tried to stop him. Oh, if Dumbledore hadn't shown up at the wrong moment, he would have loved to see the look on the brat's face when he told him he wasn't the boy-who-lived! Having been living off the back of a teacher's head for a whole school year, he had had a great chance to see both Potter twins, seeing which one would be the bigger threat in the future.

David was mediocre at best and was as arrogant and stupid as Draco Malfoy on his best day. There was really very little difference between them, really. One was on the side of the dark, and the other of light, but personality wise, they were exactly the same; especially considering whom Potter had chosen as his male sidekick. If ever there were a bigger family of Dumbledore boot lickers, it was the Weasleys.

Being defeated by Dumbledore for the moment and failing to get the philosopher's stone, he had left Quirrell to die and left to go back to Albania.

After over a year there, he had finally got some luck. Peter Pettigrew had finally succeeded to break out of Azkaban and had actually managed to return him to a body. Yes, he would have loved to use the female Potter brat's blood to come back but she had been banished from the family and had apparently left the country. So it was that he was forced to use the male Potter brat by entering him into the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

And, once again, he had failed to tell him that he wasn't the boy-who-lived. If their wands hadn't locked together and driven everything else from his mind, he would have told him just before he died to see the shock and horror in his face that his entire life was a lie. But no, that privilege had been taken from him again.

Well, a year later he had finally had his chance after he had taken the Prophecy sphere. He could have taken it at any time but he wanted to watch Dumbledore's Order of the flaming chicken to run around with their heads cut off in panic.

That was the whole reason for revealing himself in the first place. He wanted to spread fear and destruction in his wake and what better ways to do that than destroy all hope they have of winning the war. By declaring that the only one that could stop him was out of the country and had every reason to hate them all, he had almost guaranteed victory!

For the last few years, he had added to his army, stockpiled resources that would last him decades, and caused panic and chaos in his wake. Random attacks on Muggles, Muggleborns, and blood traitors had brought all of Magical Britain to its knees. The only thing that stopped him from declaring himself emperor like the French Muggle Napoleon had was that, with Lucius Malfoy's help, he had Fudge in his pocket anyway.

For all intents and purposes, he was king of Magical Britain already.

It was even easier since the Aurors were the only ones trying to stop him but they were blocked by their own orders to not use lethal force against him. Not only that, but Dumbledore's little bird club absolutely refused to do anything outright harmful as well. They were little more than a clean up crew!

So the fact that Danielle Peverell had shown up in Britain was barely even a blip on his radar. What could she do? She had only had two years of Hogwarts schooling before she was banished and even she had found someone to continue her education, one person was not going to change anything.

So no, he was not worried about the little former Potter brat at all. He knew all about David, how different could his sister be?

What he was concerned about was something completely different.

"Wormtail," Voldemort hissed, making the rat like man run into his throne room as fast as he could.

"Y, yes, milord?"

"I want you to bring in the Rosiers, both of them. I have some words to give them. When you are done with that, bring me Severus."

Wormtail nodded and scurried away. Voldemort wouldn't have been surprised to see rat pellets behind the man as he ran. While ultimately useless, Wormtail did have his moments where he could do what he needed. Of course, it was mostly if he told him what to do in a very specific step-by-step way but he would keep him around for now until he needed some cannon fodder.

Voldemort reclined into his seat, Nagini hanging over the side, and thought about what he had seen in passing in Simon's mind the previous day. The way he was found in Knockturn alley was a bit disturbing in itself but what it could affect was far reaching and needed to be dealt with quickly.

The double doors opened to reveal the Rosier cousins. Evan was a good inner circle member and had rarely failed him. His cousin on the other hand, while good, was quickly becoming a liability.

Both men stepped quickly into Voldemort's presence, not wasting time, before bowing down, not moving, "milord." They both said.

"Rise," said Voldemort, standing up. When they both complied, Voldemort instantly sent a Legilmancy attack on Simon, getting the whole story of what had happened that night.

Simon grew rigid as he felt the Dark Lord rummaging in his head, being forced to relive the night he would rather forget as soon as possible. Voldemort saw it all; the drunken state he had been in, stumbling into that alleyway, being attacked by three teenage girls, spilling the Dark Lord's secrets that were not his to give away, and finally the final attack that left him unconscious for most of the day.

Voldemort was not pleased. "Tell me Simon, am I not a merciful Dark Lord? What did I do to inspire this disobedience?"

"Milord," said Simon, worried that his life might be forfeit now. "I was caught unaware, it won't happen again."

Voldemort considered him coldly. "I saw it all, Simon. You gave away secrets, many of them. Tell me, why should I not kill you and feed you to Nagini?"

Simon gulped as he looked at the huge killer snake, which was flicking her tongue, eager to sink her teeth into human flesh again. His breathing grew shallow as he thought frantically of what to say.

"Milord, allow me some time and I will find out who attacked me and make them pay."

Voldemort considered it and found it was a useless. Two of the girls in his memory had shown advanced wandless magic and the leader seemed to have inhuman speed. This would bare scrutiny.

"Really, Simon. By the look of your memory, you could not even get a shot in before you were overpowered by teenage girls." Voldemort let that thought linger for a moment before continuing, this time to Evan. "You brought me your cousin, saying he was a proud and tough fighter for my army. And now I find that he has betrayed me. What do you have to say, Evan?"

Evan Rosier was sweating. "I, I brought him here for his dueling expertise, milord. I thought he would make a good recruit."

"And yet, your cousin has let my secrets go into the hands of new enemies. I am disappointed in both you. Crucio!"

Evan fell to the ground and writhed in agony. The feeling of white-hot knives attacking his entire nervous system at once left him twitching in pain even after the curse was lifted.

"I am very disappointed in both of you," said Voldemort. He then looked up to see a certain potion master walk in, "ah, Severus, I believe I have something for you to study for me."

Severus Snape raised an eyebrow in curiosity as Voldemort used the Cruciatus curse on Simon as well. After the shaking and twitching man was done being tortured, the Dark Lord used a whip made of magical energy to send Simon flying to Snape's feet. Voldemort then vanished Simon's robes to reveal the bow and crescent moon scar.

"This is your next project Severus," said the Dark Lord, almost smiling with his lipless mouth. "I want to know what this symbol means. Use any means you can think of but I expect results soon."

Snape bowed low, "of course, milord. I will work on it as soon as possible." Rising, he left, wondering what in the name of Merlin he was supposed to do now.

**Ministry of Magic**

Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was ticked off to the extreme. Fudge had once again cut her budget and they were facing a war! How was she supposed to defeat and arrest Death Eaters if she had less money to do it with and even fewer new recruits? She had brought back Mad-Eye Moody for training but it just wasn't enough; she needed permission for more heavy-handed spells, not stunners or disarmers. Sadly, it seemed that Dumbledore was backing Fudge on that last one, something about reforming the Death Eaters and making them see the error of their ways.

HAH!

She knew Death Eaters. If they were stunned, they would just be brought back a moment later. If they lost their wand, they had about three or four others. If they were sent to Azkaban they would just be broken out the next week with the Dementors on the other side. Unless the Death Eaters got more than a slap on the wrist, there would be more deaths and disappearances than ever before and Fudge was not helping, listening to Malfoy. In short, they were screwed.

Banging her way through the door to Fudge's reception area, she ran into his secretary. "Madame Bones, is there something you need? Minister Fudge is in a meeting."

Amelia growled at her, "if you do not step aside, I will send you to work on the janitorial staff!"

The secretary, scared for her job, ran for it. Bashing the doors to Fudge's office open with her wand, she found Fudge did indeed have a meeting, with Delores Umbridge and Lucius Malfoy of all people.

Fudge stood up immediately, "ah, Amelia, have you caught Danielle yet?" he asked hopefully.

Amelia had to stop herself from cursing him to oblivion, she really did. How could he not see that Magical Britain's entire fate was on the line?

"No Minister, I have not 'caught' the girl as you have put it. I want to know why you have slashed the budget of my department, AGAIN! How am I supposed to fight an army when I only have about fifty Aurors who are equipped with only stunners and disarmers!"

Umbridge scoffed, "I'm sure you don't need more advanced spells," said the toad human hybrid with a high-pitched voice that made Amelia want to strangle her. "Fifty Aurors are more than enough."

"Too many, if you ask me," said Lucius. "You better cut the funding to them again."

Fudge nodded, as if he liked the idea. "Yes, I'm sure that with Danielle leading the battle, only thirty or so Aurors would be needed."

Amelia face palmed, this was bad, very bad. "Minister, how do you know that the girl would WANT to join you?"

Fudge looked at her, as if surprised that anyone would not want to work for him. "Young Danielle was born here, she has a duty to her country and I'm sure that she would like to work together to make sure we win this war."

Amelia started to wonder if the man had a selective hearing charm on himself, only hearing what he wanted to hear and nothing else. "And if she doesn't? Shouldn't we have an army to battle the Death Eaters in case this does escalate to full scale fighting in the streets?"

Lucius snorted, "the Dark Lord is only attacking Muggleborns and blood traitors so far, why do we have to worry about it right now?"

Fudge and Umbridge nodded, "exactly, we'll burn that bridge when we get there but so far You-Know-Who hasn't been causing nearly as much damage as I would have thought," said Fudge.

Amelia gave him a deadpanned expression, "what about that bridge he destroyed, killing about two dozen Muggles? Or massive attacks on Muggle London using Giants and Dementors? What about those Death Eaters caught killing those Muggleborns as they were walking into the Ministry?"

Umbridge gave one of her airy laughs, "and who should care about them? They were not rich Purebloods."

It was then that Amelia lost her temper and advanced on the squat, toad like woman. "They were still voting citizens, Delores! These people are still humans and we should be protecting them! I cannot do that with the budget I have now!" She was sure she was one of the few non-corrupt people in the Ministry.

Before Umbridge could speak, her face going red, Amelia strode to the door. Looking back at Fudge, she said, "We cannot win this war, Cornelious! Stop listening to your lackeys and take charge for once!" With that, she slammed the door behind her.

**International Confederation of Wizards Conference Room**

Albus Dumbledore sat at in the middle of a circle of various representatives around the world, not feeling that this would go well. Surrounding him in a half circle were the representatives and world leaders of Magical France, Spain, Germany, America, Italy, Japan, China, Canada, and Bulgaria. They were also glaring at them.

The representative of Magical America and President of the Magical Government, Justin Russo, started off this emergency meeting.

"Fellow members of the ICW, we are here to question one Albus Percival Wulfrc Brian Dumbledore on his blatant disregard of duty to Magical Britain."

President Russo looked at Dumbledore, "Albus, you better have a good reason on how your 'Lord Voldemort' is still running around and not defeated yet. I don't want your accursed war in my country."

The other members of the ICW nodded, wanting to know Albus's answer.

Dumbledore took in a deep breath, "members of the ICW, I know the prospect in this war is not ideal, but-"

"Not ideal?" asked France, his speech in perfect English thanks to the translation spells in the room. "Dumbledore, this war has already spread to France! Death Eaters have been sighted trying to recruit my citizens in YOUR war! How is this Lord Voldemort still alive when he supposedly died years ago?"

"Ah," said Dumbledore, starting to sweat a little. "I have a theory about that, but the knowledge is not for everyone."

"I don't like playing games Albus," said President Russo, glaring at him. "Tell us what you know, now."

Dumbledore sighed and relented, "when Voldemort tried to kill the Potters on Halloween night all those years ago, it was only the grandparents and children in the house. After he killed the grandparents, he tried to kill young Danielle Potter and the killing curse rebounded on him. It is my belief that it was their grandparents dying that created the protection."

There was silence for a moment, before Japan started to laugh. "I'm sorry Albus, but how many parents and grandparents sacrifice themselves for their children and grandchildren? How come we've never heard of this anywhere else?"

Dumbledore couldn't find an answer so he tried his hardest to come up with one that made sense. "I think that it must be under very special circumstances-"

"Please Albus," said Spain, wanting to get this over with soon. "We really don't care about any of this, just tell us why you haven't dealt with this Voldemort character yourself. You defeated Grindlewald, didn't you? How is this any different?"

Dumbledore was now really sweating; this was getting too close to the prophecy. "There are…special conditions that point to Danielle Potter being the only one to defeat him. Since she only just came back to Britain, I haven't had the time to-"

"Since when can a eighteen year old girl defeat a powerful Dark Lord?" asked Germany. "What can she do that you can't, Albus?"

_'She is an immortal hunter and is good with a bow,'_ thought Dumbledore. "That secret I'm afraid I cannot reveal," he said out loud.

"And why is that, Albus?" asked President Russo, leaning back into his chair. "This war affects us all, shouldn't you tell us so we can take proper measures? After all, we all want the same thing, the eradication of this Voldemort person. You know, I have to wonder if you DO want Voldemort defeated. You are the Chief Warlock of your Wizengamot, yet the tolerance of first generation witches and wizards, as well as magical creatures, are at an all time low in Britain. Just what are you playing at Albus?"

Canada nodded, "you know, I have to wonder that myself. So far, Britain is the only country in the world to not sign the Equal Treatment bill. The one that gives full rights to every magical creature and witch and wizard, no matter what their blood purity."

"Britain still believes in blood purity?" asked China, shocked. "My people gave that stuff up a long time ago. Heck, even Saudi Arabia gave up that silly notion that blood purity is all that matters. What is your game Albus?"

"Ah," said Dumbledore, trying not show his nervousness. "The current political climate is not ready to accept radical new changes like the ones you are expecting so-"

"Not this again," said President Russo. "I checked on this bill, Albus. I found that there is some sort of magical field around Britain that makes the bill explode as soon as it gets within ten miles of your shores. Not to mention that this bill in place would make it harder for future dark lords to gain power or allies.

"I ask you again, Albus, what makes you think that this Danielle girl is the only one who can defeat this dark lord?"

Albus looked at everyone's faces and knew that he had lost. There were too many people against him keeping it a secret.

"Very well, I will tell you. Shortly before Danielle's birth was a prophecy that stated that only she can defeat Voldemort. I didn't know it was Danielle and focused on her twin brother David. Now that I know that Danielle is back in Britain, I plan on preparing her for the upcoming battle."

Bulgaria snorted, "come off it Albus! You really expect us to believe that a PROPHECY is the only thing that makes this girl special? Everyone knows that prophecies only give out a possible vision of the future, it isn't set in stone. If this is the best you can offer, than you have failed."

Dumbledore felt that this would be a long day.

**Ha! Take that Dumbledore!**

**Sorry but while I think that the Headmaster is trying to be a good guy, he is also blinded by his own self worth. He likes being the one that everyone looks up to and to do that, he needs the chosen one. Too bad he royally messed up with that one.**

**Tell me what you think and if I'm heading in the right direction. I'm thinking of having Danielle taking out several Death Eaters in the next chapter.**

**No idea when I'll update again.**

**Peace out y'all!**


	8. Voldemort part 2

**Hey there! Sorry about the long wait but I did have to work and that cut down on my writing time. Anyway, I would like to answer a few questions I got. A few people wondered why I mentioned Hebe when Percy was talking about getting a pardon for all minor gods that went over to Kronos. Truth be told, I was just following cannon. Read 'The Last Olympian,' Percy does mention Hebe, even though I can't see the goddess of youth joining Kronos either. For those who don't know, Hebe is a daughter of Zeus and Hera and is a minor goddess, but as the goddess of youth, I just think of young, happy girl who would probably be a daddy's girl.**

**Please tell me if this is interesting at all, this is just the start of Voldemort's defeat. By the way, no, I am not bringing Percy into this. Percy Jackson is currently spending time with Annabeth before his memories will be taken before he is sent to the wolf house. Voldemort is Danielle's, no one else's and especially not a certain son of Poseidon's who ALREADY defeated the king of the Titans!**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

**Grimmauld Place**

Sirius was standing in front of the large windows that faced the Muggle street that his old family home had been built on. While he hated this house, he had to admit that it did have all the comforts of home. Burning his mother's portrait had been the most fun thing he had done when he had been renovating the place.

He had lived here for years when he was younger. Everything seemed so simple back then. His parents, Orion and Walburga Black, had not been the most lovable care givers but he had at least been allowed to voice his own opinion once in a while.

His father Orion had been a powerful man and wanted the best for the House of Black. While not a Pureblood supremist, he had supported Voldemort in the first war, thinking that he would bring witches and wizards glory untold of for generations. Admitadily however, he knew who had worn the pants in that relationship.

His mother Walburga was just too much like Mrs. Weasley for his tastes. Yes, the matriarch of the Weasley clan was firmly on the side of the light, aka Dumbledore, but she was pushy with the things she believed in, intolerant of those that threatened her own personal view of the world, and was as fanitcal about Dumbledore as Walburga had been about Voldemort.

Sirius sighed as he watched the rain splatter outside. A few brave Muggle children were outside, splashing in the puddles in the road. Not for the first time, he thought about this house and how hypocritical it was. What Black in their right mind would build the family manor of the Ancient and Noble House of Black in the middle of Muggle London? It was even more idiotic since the House of Black had almost always had a dark history and hatred for Muggles. It was like the one who had built this house wanted to lord it over the 'inferior' Muggles by living right under their noses without them being any the wiser.

He had started living in Grimmauld Place when his mother had died almost a decade ago. While not the best place for him to live, it was better than the flat he had been staying in since his uncle had left him a bunch of gold when he had died. The manor was technically his as he was now Lord Black, strange how he had never been officially disowned, even though his dear sweet mother had blasted his name off the family tree.

_'When did everything go wrong?'_ Sirius thought as he continued to stare out the window. _'When did James and Lily remind me of my parents?'_

He had not seen it for years. He should have. He was both of the Potter children godfather after all. It had been under his nose for over a decade but he had refused to believe that the caring James and Lily Potter would sink this low. Disowning their own daughter for saying things that were proven to be true? At least his parents had just let him run away without formally disowning him.

He remembered his own past, when he had been Danielle's age. He had made great friends with James, Remus, and Peter. Spending time with his cousins and brother had also been enjoyable as they had gotten along famously back when they were in Hogwarts. Andromeda (Andi) had been his favorite cousin, she knew what she wanted and would not let anyone get in her way if she desired something. Narcissa (Cissy) had always been a little vain but once that shell was broken, she was a terror with a snowball. Bellatrix (Bella) had not always been that twisted, yes, she had a cruel sense of humor back then but knew when to draw the line. It was her marriage to Rudolphus and being in Voldemort's presence that had caused her to go around the twist, though Azkaban hadn't helped. Finally, Regulas had been an enigma for a long time as he had been the proper Pureblood prince he was supposed to be. Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team, he had idolized his parents and listened to everything they said. The fact that he had helped try to defeat his Dark Lord…

Sirius didn't know what to think anymore.

The Black family motto may be 'always pure' but he had found that the one who had come up with the motto had meant it to say 'always pure intentions.' Meaning that the Black family should look out for themselves first and the Wizarding world second. Family was everything to the Blacks and blood was thicker than water. It wasn't until the ninteenth century that the motto was shortened to what it was now, indicating when the Black family had started to turn into Pureblood racists.

Back to the Danielle situation, he had to admit, he would probably have done the same thing that she had done. True, being a Hunter of a goddess that hated the entire male race was not something that he could do, but he understood her anger and where she was coming from.

"Some day, huh?"

Looking around, Sirius found himself face to face with his second best friend, Remus. The haggard looking werewolf was standing a little behind him and looking out the window as well. After a few moments, Remus looked at his best friend. "The Order meeting. Some day that was."

Sirius nodded and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the roof. "Where did I go wrong, Moony?"

Remus put a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "I don't know Padfoot. Some of those harsh things that Danielle said…I don't believe it either."

Sirius looked at Remus, giving him an odd look. "Are you saying that you support Dumbledore here? Moony, if anything, Danielle was right about everything."

The werewolf frowned and looked at his friend. "Sirius, it's Dumbledore-"

"Dumbledore be damned!" Sirius growled, his hands starting to ball into fists. "I know he did a lot for you Moony but let the notion that Dumbledore is some sort of god go. He's not perfect."

"I didn't say he was," said Remus calmly, though it was clear that he didn't like the way this conversation was going. "But the fact that Danielle disobeyed him when he only has our best interests at heart-"

"Best interests at heart?" Sirius interrupted. "Moony, he tried to kidnap Danielle and her friends against her will! He left her all those years ago. Merlin, we ALL abandoned her! Now you're saying that she should have forgiven him and say 'all well.'"

Remus took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Padfoot, we are talking about THE Albus Dumble-"

"Don't give me that!" Sirius yelled at him. He was now facing his friend, trying to regain his temper. "Just because you practially worship him does not mean that everyone should do the same! I listened to Dumbledore's words all those years ago on what happened that Halloween and looked what happened! I lost my goddaughter! Now that she's back, I AM going to all I can to apologize and hopefully work with her in this war."

Remus looked at his friend carefully. "Sirius, you can't actually be agreeing with her methods. Did you look at the Daily Prophet? That Death Eater that was found in Knockturn Alley. That was Danielle and her friends, no doubt." He looked at Sirius with almost pleading eyes. "Padfoot, we can't be like them. We will win this war but not by killing every Death Eater we find."

"I'm not saying we do that," said Sirius. "But even you have to admit that Dumbledore's plan is not working. _He_ is getting stronger and the old man's strategy is going to get us all killed."

Remus sighed and looked out the window again. "Is this really it, old friend. Have we reached a parting of the ways?"

Sirius sighed as well and joined his friend. "Remus, don't let your blind devotion to Dumbledore cloud your judgment. He might have let you into school when no one else would have but why didn't he do the same to all the other werewolves that wanted to attend Hogwarts? He's using you, Moony, to be a spy for our side."

Remus frowned. "I think you're just trying to find faults in Dumbledore where there are none. I think we have said all that needs to be said, old friend." With that, the aging werewolf turned on his heel, and strode out the door, Sirius watching sadly.

The dog animagus went back to looking out the window, wondering if Remus actually meant everything he had said or if he was just in denile. He knew that if they followed the old man's plans, they would be doomed to live under Voldemort forever, but what other choice was there?

The Death Eaters played for keeps, something that the side of the light would never do. This was just like in the last war all over again, where they were losing badly until that killing curse bounced off a one year old girl and ended Voldemort. However, they had been losing because they had been using Dumbledore's strategy of using stunners and disarmers. A more heavy handed approach was needed this time and the old man just didn't have what it took to give an order like that.

The Ministry had only been doing slightly better than the Order since Barty Crouch had allowed the use of lethal force for the aurors and that had allowed them some breathing room but didn't stop the war either.

Sirius kept watching the rain outside, wishing that he were one of those kids splashing in mud puddles, making everything much simpler for him.

**Diagon Alley**

Mundungous Fletcher had been called many things over the years. A thief, a lier, and even once he was called a 'no-goodnick.' But he didn't dwell on those things, mostly because it was all true. Selling stolen items was just a business after all, not his fault people didn't secure their valubles more securely than they should.

It was dark out, reaching about ten at night, when the cowardly sneak thief decided that he had put in a decent day's 'work.' Packing up his things, he was about to head for the Leakey Cauldron for a drink before going home when he suddenly felt something pull around his ankle and he was lifted into the air, about ten feet above the ground, upside down. What made it worse was that his wand fell out of his pocket, along with half a dozen others from his coat.

"What, what's going on?"

"Wow, it really was that simple," said a voice below him. "I owe you a drachma."

"Yeah, take away their wands and wizards are useless," said another voice.

"Show yourself!" said Mundungous and he slowly rotated as he hung in midair. "Let me go! Dumbledore will hear of this!"

Mundungous's slowly reddening face from the blood flow rushing to his head was suddenly up close to another face. 'Dung' was now looking into the hazel eyes of Danielle Peverell.

"If you don't want to see what color your own liver is, you will tell us everything you know about a certain locket you took from Sirius's place." She said in a dangerous voice, glaring at him.

Mundungous quickly nodded. "Yeah, a locket. Is it valuable?"

"You still have it?" asked a figure next to Danielle that Dung couldn't see.

"Have it?" asked Dung. "Bleeden gave it away, didn't I?"

Danielle growled and pulled out her knife, not sure if the celestrial bronze would work on a wizard. "Who took it?"

"Okay! Okay! I was selling me wares here in the Alley when some Ministry hag wanted to see me license. I didn't have one and she took a fancy to the locket. Told me I was getting off easy."

The two figures behind Danielle covered their arms in fire and lightning respectively. Danielle started fingering her knife. "What ministry hag?"

Mundungous was now really sweating. "Alright! Didn't get her name but she was short and ugly…looked like a toad."

Danielle stepped back and groaned. She had heard James complain enough about a woman in the Ministry that fit the description and knew this would not be fun. She looked back at her friends, nodded and turned back to Mundungous.

"What kind of merchandise do you have?"

Dung looked confused at the change in tactics. "Now one minute! You can't be stealen from a hard working-"

That was as far as he got before Danielle started playing with her knife and decided to start aiming for a certain private area of Dung's body. Dung panicked.

"Alright! Alright! The combination is 12345. Don't kill me!"

"12345?" asked the one who had coated her body with lightning. "What kind of stupid combination is that? That's the kind an idiot would have on his luggage!"

Danielle sighed and used the combination on the suitcase that Mundungous had dropped to the ground. After putting everything that might be of use into her bag, she stunned the skiving sneak thief and cut him down for the aurors to find.

After a quick nod to the other two, they vanished from Diagon Alley.

**Potter Manor**

Lily was sitting at a table in the kitchen, looking out the window, wondering what had happened in her life. One moment she was going to Hogwarts with Severus, being annoyed by James and his friends, and spending her days working on potions with Professor Slughorn. Now she was married to James, Severus could hardly look at her without scowling, and her family was falling apart at the seams.

The Order of the Phoenix had decided to use Potter Manor as headquarters but they didn't really do anything. Every meeting was roughly the same. After Dumbledore and Molly got the Potter elves to make them dinner, the old man would go on and on about how much good they were doing for magical Britain. Severus would then give his imput on what Voldemort was doing, James and Sirius would get into a fight with him, Dumbledore would break it up, then the meeting would close with them promising to help as many people as they could.

They were doing nothing.

Lily sighed as she stared at the tree her young daughter used to read under when she was little. How much had she taken for granted back then? What had they gained by listening to Dumbledore?

When the twins were born, she and James had been so proud. It had been the most tiring and best days of her life. Then Dumbledore told them of that cursed prophecy and everything seemed to spiral out of control. In retrospect, it was curious why everyone would believe the words of an old drunk that was much of a seer as Fang the boarhound was.

Lily closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She had listened to Dumbledore since he was supposed to be a great man, the most powerful wizard of the age. But then, why hadn't he defeated Voldemort already? She remembered the meeting and knew that Danielle did have a point. Dumbledore had been trying to defeat the most powerful dark wizard in a century for the last thirty years, he must have known about these horcruxes already. And yet, he did nothing, allowing Voldemort to rise to power and kill innocents while trying to get a teenage girl to do the real fighting.

Dumbledore was off his rocker, that was for sure.

The fact that the old man had been wrong about the whole 'kid-who-lived' thing was another nail in his coffin. Lily and James had believed him when he said that David was the 'chosen one' right away, but now it was shown that he had been guessing the whole time. Dumbledore did have a clue what he was doing and it was ruining more than one family, Lily could see that now.

She had admitted to herself that Dumbledore was not fully to blame, she and James had to share some of the credit of ignoring her only daughter as well. Thanks to her pride and blind devotion to a senile old man, she had become the very thing that she had always hated, an arrogant bully who had driven away one of her own children.

What kind of monster was she?

It didn't help that David was just like James had been during his early years. In many ways, she had been as blind to her son's faults as her sister Petunia was to her own son's. David and Draco Malfoy had far too much in common for her liking and she had no one to blame but herself for that.

Her relationship with Petunia was non-existent. Magic could do many wonderful and terrible things but it also broke apart her family. Petunia had always been jealous of her looks and magic, the fact that she was the darling of the family only made it worse. When her parents were killed by Voldemort's Death Eaters, Petunia had blamed her, rightly so. Back then, Death Eaters had claimed the lives of many Muggles and with her in the Order of the Phoenix, it made them great targets. The last time she had spoken to her sister, she had called her a 'freak' and had driven her out of the house. She didn't even know her nephew.

"Bad day?"

Lily looked up to see James had come in with two mugs of tea, a grim look on his face as he sat down next to her.

Lily sighed again. "I…I want to make things right. I want Danielle back, James. I'm a horrible mother but I want to make it better."

James looked at her sadly. "You are anything but a bad mother, Lils. If anything, I'm a bad father. I drove away our daughter, our son is an arrogant brat, and I have no idea how to deal with this."

He sighed. "Lils, I think we should quit the Order."

Lily nodded, thinking the same thing. "Dumbledore isn't doing anything to stop the dark bastard other than trying to get Danielle back, which won't work. I've lost almost everything I have thanks to him. We need to fight back, Danielle and her friends had the right idea, we can't use Dumbledore's rules anymore."

James nodded. In truth, he didn't have too much of an issue taking out Death Eaters on a more permanent basis. If some could be redeemed, then they would do it on their own like Snape had. Most however, did believe in Voldemort's philosophy and would die to make his twisted dream world come true.

"We need to kick out the Order members from the house."

Lily chuckled. "Good luck getting the Weasleys to leave. They think they practically own this house."

James scowled. He had no problems with half of the Weasleys. Arthur, Bill, and Charlie were good men and the twins were mad geniuses at heart. The others however, he couldn't stand. Molly was too loud and overbearing, Percy was a toady, Ron was a lazy idiot and Ginny mooned over his son too much to have a real personality of her own.

"I'll tell the Order members that we're leaving," said James. "Any that want to follow us and leave Dumbledore can and I'll accept them. Any that won't and we'll kick them out of the house for good."

Lily nodded. It was for the best.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the library, Hermione was reading up laws regarding Muggleborns in magical Britain. She had never found anything in the library at Hogwarts about it but the one at Potter manor had books on a wider range of subjects. The more she read, the more she was realizing the truth. Danielle had told her everything she had read and was horrified.

Purebloods got everything, halfbloods got what was left and Muggleborns got the dregs of magical society. The only groups that had it worse were magical creatures, squibs and those that had been cast out of their families.

Hermione had to admit, the only way for her to get enough respect to work anywhere but Flourish and Blotts as a book stocker was to either defeat Voldemort herself, or have a powerful enough patron to protect and back her. The best way to do that, would be to marry them. David was powerful enough but she didn't like him like that. Ron was an option but she read that the patron could open and close as many doors as he liked, and knowing Ron, would want a wife like Molly.

Hermione had no intentions of being a housewife and popping out kids every year or so.

Sighing, she looked back at her life in the magical world and found it was bittersweet. On one hand, she was surrounded by magic, something she had always found fascinating. On the other, looking back, she found that even her so-called friends didn't really care too much about her. Ron had used her for homework too many times to count and David cared more about his fame to really listen to any problems she might have. That, and the Order seemed to only tolerate her. Even now that she was out of school and a member, they never took what she had to say too seriously and tended to ignore her.

In many ways, she found herself admiring Danielle as she had escaped this world and found another where she seemed to thrive in. She had read about Greek Mythology recently and found that Artemis was the best goddess to ask for help, but knew it was too late for her. Almost eighteen, she might be too old for the Hunters.

The only reason she wanted to be in the Order was to help make the world a better place for everyone, human or not. She had started SPEW to help house elves and, in her ignorance, had tried to set them free with clothes she had made herself. The fact that no one had stopped her and allowed her to make a fool of herself really stated how much people in the magical world cared about her. David or even Ron could have told her that it was useless as only the elf's master could set them free, but they hadn't said anything.

Thinking back to Dumbledore, she had to wonder why they only tolerated her. More importantly, would they actually protect her and her parents if they were in danger like they promised, or would they cut her loose if she wasn't needed anymore.

With a start, she realized that she didn't have anything to offer. She could do research better than anyone, but Dumbledore had others more qualified than her to do the same thing. She was gifted in knowledge, but not the know how or the experience to actually do the spells or potions she read about.

Was she dead weight to the Order?

This required a lot of serious thought.

**Hunter's Camp, Location Unknown**

Danielle was sitting by the fireplace that Elizabeth had created that night. She was reading the book that lady Hecate had given her and had to admit, magic could do almost anything if one actually put their minds to it. With how much magic could do, it was no wonder how Magical Britain, one of the most magically dense populations in the world, could become so reliant on it.

For Danielle, magic was not the only thing that made her who she was. It was an important tool, true, but even before the Hunt and meeting lady Artemis she wanted to improve herself in as many things as possible. After joining the Hunt, magic took a backseat to developing her more natural talents: running, climbing, archery, and hand-to-hand combat.

"Well, when do we kick some Death Eater butt?" asked Thalia out of nowhere. She was sitting beside the fireplace as well but was twirling her spear in her hand, not having the patience to actually read a book or practice her powers like the third member in their group.

Danielle sighed and closed her book. "Guys, we need information on how to win this war. I say we need to use some Guerilla war tactics, at least at first. Do you know how many followers Voldemort has by now? We need to thin out their ranks and take out some supply lines."

Elizabeth nodded, "yeah. But how would we even start?"

Thalia, still in the mood for an actual fight, knew the importance of strategy, wisely kept silent.

Danielle thought about it for a moment and smiled evilly. "I think I know where to get the information we need, but I need to go alone." She stood up.

"Whoa, whoa," said Thalia, standing up as well. "Where are you going?"

Danielle smirked, "just the place that will have the information we need. Elizabeth, do you still have that list of Death Eaters that that grunt gave us?"

Elizabeth nodded and handed her the list. Danielle used a quick spell that duplicated the list and gave her back the original. "The fake will only last a few hours but that will be enough. This way, even if I do get caught, you will have the real one and the one I have will vanish."

Thalia stared at her, "where are you going?" she asked a little forcefully than before. "Why can't we go with you?"

"Do you want me to break into what could be headquarters of all things stupid with you two?" asked Danielle, now folding her arms across her chest. "Trust me, I'll be fine and back before morning."

Thalia looked like she was going to argue some more but Elizabeth put a hand on her shoulder. "She knows what she's doing…I hope."

Danielle just smiled and using the knowledge given to her from Hecate's book, and with hardly a sound, dissaperated.

The red headed Hunter appeared in London about a block away from her target and brought out her wand after slipping into an alleyway, using the darkness of night to her advantage. Using a more complicated version of the disillusionment charm, she altered her skin and clothes to absorb the surrounding light instead of reflecting it.

A normal disillusionment charm made a person's skin and clothes blend into the background behind them. If done with enough power, it could make a person completely invisible.

The spell that Danielle just used however would prevent anyone from seeing her at all. The way the eye works is that it sees an object that reflects light from whatever the source might be. If something were to absorb that light instead of reflecting it however, no eye would be able to see the object, thus making that thing invisible.

She didn't want to use her new cloak. She had nothing against it, or that it used to belong to Thantos, but she just couldn't get over the fact that it belonged to her father, and then to her brother. She was better than that. She didn't need a cloak to become invisible.

Danielle slipped out from the alleyway, completely invisible, and made her way down to the next block, wondering if her plan to get in would work. With how corrupt and proud Magical Britain was, this should be no problem to someone with half a brain.

Sighting her goal, she opened the door to what looked like a normal telephone box next to some dirty office buildings. Shaking her head at the stupid location for this, she picked up the receiver and dialed six-two-four-four-two.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic," said a nice cool female voice that seemed to come from around the box instead of the receiver itself. "Please state your name and business."

"Danielle Peverell," said Danielle, sounding bored. "I'm here to rob you blind."

After a moment's pause, "thank you. Please take the name badge and place it on the front of your robes."

With a small shinking noise, a small badge came out of the little slot that change normally came out of from a normal telephone. Picking it up, she saw it read: _Danielle Peverell, Thief._

"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

Danielle snorted, "not bloody likely."

Before she could say anything else, the floor of the box began to sink into the ground. After everything went black for a moment, she got to see the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain.

"The Ministry wishes you a pleasant day," said the female voice as the door of the box opened to allow her to leave. As it was just past midnight, there were very few people around. Mostly just the janitorial crew, cleaning the place up for the next day and with the use of magic, it went very quickly.

Taking in the sight of the Ministry Atrium, Danielle had to admit that it could look cool after someone with style took over after Fudge left. She was at the far end of a hallway with Floos every few feet for people to come and go as they please but they were closed for now, bars covering the fireplaces. At the other end of the hallway was the Atrium itself, a huge open area with a tall ceiling and polished black floors. A fountain was in the middle and Danielle saw that it depicted a witch and wizard, a centaur, a goblin, and a house elf. Water came out of the two wands, the tip of the centaur's bow, the top of the goblin's hat, and out both of the house elf's ears.

Up close, Danielle saw it was the 'fountain of magical brethren.' She snorted, like witches and wizards in Britain would admit that other magical creatures could be just as powerful, if not more so, than they were. The fountain looked even more idiotic up close when she saw the adoring looks on the centaur and the goblin as they looked at the witch and wizard; both species would never look at humans like that. Only the elf's features looked somewhat believable. Hades, even the witch and wizard looked horrible. The witch looked more like a runway model than anything realistic and the wizard resembled Gildory Lockhart; all looks and no brains.

By far the most horrible thing about the Atrium was when she looked up and saw that someone, most likely Fudge, had put a huge banner depicting his likeness that took over a huge chunk of a wall. The banner must have been about thirty feet tall and long and had Fudge's features smiling fatherly at the room. It made her want to throw up in the fountain.

Shaking her head, she decided to get to work. She passed the security guard's station, normally a problem but the young man behind the desk was fast asleep. Passing the security for the most guarded magical place in Britain with ease, she moved on. Getting to the lifts off to the side of the Atrium, she looked at a small directory and found where she had to go. Pressing the button on the wall, the golden grills in front of the lift before her clanked to the side and allowed her to get in.

Glad that she didn't have to hear stupid music coming from a loud speaker in the lift, curse you Apollo, she waited to get to her floor.

"First floor," said the female voice from before. "Minister of Magic and staff offices and administrative services."

The first floor of the Ministry of Magic looked very much like their non-magical counterparts. The carpet was a rich purple and the windows showed off the weather outside, still sunny when it was close to one in the morning, but otherwise normal. Right outside of the lift, the hallway split into a fork, one way went to the staff offices, the other to a formal looking office.

Taking a left, she looked at the various names on the doors, trying to see which one was the one she wanted. A name on one of the doors made her pause though. Stopping, she saw the name: Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary of the Minister.

Danielle started thinking quickly. According to Kreacher and Mundungus Fletcher, this Umbridge woman had the Locket of Slytherin, a horcrux. Wondering if the locket was in the room, she pulled out her wand and did a few simple spells to see if there were any wards or any other protective enchantments on the door. When nothing happened, she raised an eyebrow. What sort of Ministry worker did not safeguard their office? Only the kind who was so arrogant and sure of the Ministry's security that they saw it as unneeded would even think of it.

Shrugging, she cautiously opened the door and sure enough, no alarms sounded. Shaking her head at the idiot woman, she started to search the office but stopped when she got a good look at it.

She felt the urge to gag and vomit at the same time. The walls were a lurid pink color, a horrible shade with no sense of taste at all. Aphrodite herself would be running from it. On the walls were plates with pictures of kittens on them, all with their own colored ribbon around their necks and were purring and mewing as they frolicked around the scenery they were painted on. There were also a few knickknacks around, as well as the huge desk in the center of the room that was immaculately clean. A vase of dried flowers on one of the corners of the desk along with a tea set in the other.

The whole office was so sickening that she could see why there were no spells to prevent anyone from coming in, the office itself did that. Taking a few needed breaths to calm herself so she wouldn't just start blasting everything to oblivion, she started to search. After about twenty minutes of looking, she had to admit that the locket was simply not there.

In retrospect, it was obvious. The locket was valuable, even more so if Umbridge knew it had belonged to a Hogwarts founder. It wasn't exactly the kind of trinket one would leave behind in one's office after daytime hours.

Opening a drawer in the woman's desk however found something that she had never thought she would see here. A medium sized box that had a security charm on it that pulsed with darkish magic. Frowning, she spent about ten minutes undoing the charm and found that the box was full of black quills with too sharp to be normal points; blood quills.

Danielle glared at them. What sort of woman had a whole box of about thirty blood quills in their office when they were restricted objects only to be used in the signing of the most dangerous of contracts in Gringotts? These blasted things wrote using the person's own blood! For Hestia's sake! Using a simple charm, she found that the quills hadn't been used for the last two years, the same amount of time when this woman was the Defense teacher at Hogwarts.

Her eyes widened at the implication. This woman had been torturing her students! This was so inhumane that it wasn't funny. This was something out of the Fields of Punishment in Hades!

Making up her mind, she put the box back where it was and reached into her bag. This woman would not be torturing anyone else if she had anything to say about it! She pulled out a small jar of what looked like green liquid, Greek fire, second only to Fiendfyre in both the magical or godly worlds.

Using a trick she had seen in the Titan war by some of their best trappers, she rigged the jar of Greek fire using ordinary duck tape and strapped it to the bottom of the desk and out of sight. Leading an almost invisible thread attached to the jar's lid, she tied the other end to the high backed chair behind the desk.

She took a moment to appreciate her work. The moment that Umbridge moved her chair so she could sit down, it would pull the lid off the jar and make the whole desk burst into flames. Since Greek fire could burn even underwater, normal water spells wouldn't be able to put it out. She hadn't used any magic just in case Umbridge planned for that. She wouldn't be able to detect anything wrong until it was too late. Besides, the woman most likely wouldn't expect such a non-magical setup.

Smiling brightly that one horrible person could possibly die but mostly just to show that the woman was not all powerful by burning most of her office, she quietly left the room to continue to her first real goal.

She wasn't stupid, not by a long shot.

If Fudge already knew that she was now a Peverell, thanks to that stupid article in the Daily Prophet, he must have inside information. Information that she wanted to stop if at all possible. There was no other way the Minister would now that she was now affiliated with a magical family other than the Potters so soon after it happened.

Slipping into the last door at the end of the hall, it had to be the last one, she entered a reception area. Other than the desk for a secretary, there was nothing there other than some wizarding photos on the wall.

Moving in front of the Minister's office door, she pulled out her wand again and did the same spells she had used before on Umbridge's. Unlike the undersecretary's door however, the Minister's did have protective wards on it, and a lot of them. Knowing that she finally had a challenge to work with, she examined the wards and looked over them all.

The first few were obvious, such as one to help guard the door against both physical and magical attacks. One to tell the Minister if someone was coming if he was in his office, and even one to prevent any eavesdroppers from listening at the door were also in place. The problem was one that sent an alert to the Minister, no matter where he was, that his office was being broken into. That would be a problem, especially as that one was interwoven with the others so it was impossible to separate it without it going off and alerting Fudge.

Seeing that she would have to break all of the wards at once, something not easy for anyone, she consulted her spell book from her bag. Flipping to the page on wards, she looked for a way one could shatter them all at once without hurting herself.

She paled at what she found. It was possible but extremely magically draining. Taking in a deep breath and looking over the wand movements again, she started tracing her wand in various patterns. Looping around to make figure eights then immediately start twisting her wand around her hand before thrusting a few times.

After forty-five minutes of solid wand movements, she finished by a huge wave of her wand and she could feel all the wards shatter and break. She instantly fell to her knees, breathing heavily, the magical drain was that great. Channeling magic from her bracelet into her body, she recovered enough to keep going for the night.

Fighting the urge to go to bed and recover her lost energy, she scanned for any other kind of protective enchantments but found none. Getting back to her feet while shaking a little, she opened the door to find Fudge's office.

She snorted at the size; it was like Fudge thought he was emperor of the universe or something with how big it was. The office had to be at least fifty feet wide and long with a huge desk piled high with papers on it. The walls were decorated with framed newspaper clippings of Fudge's various campaigns and other stories that revolved around himself. There were a few wizarding photos of himself and his wife but they were mostly overshadowed by the many others of Fudge with Lucius Malfoy at various public areas.

Two doors led off the room that probably led to the Minister's personal apparition room and to a private bathroom. Danielle had to shake her head when she saw a much smaller representation of the banner she had seen down in the Atrium covering one of the walls.

Trying to sense any magic in the area, she only got a small blip on her radar on one of the walls. Curious, she moved toward it and saw it was an illusion charm, a badly cast one, on what looked like Fudge's personal marks from his NEWTs at Hogwarts. The marks showed that Fudge had received nine O's in his classes that included Charms, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Potions, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes.

Smiling faintly, she removed the illusion and sure enough, the O's changed to mostly P's and D's. The man had even gotten a T in Defense Against the Dark Arts! Wondering how the man had gotten to be Minister of Magic when the only passing grade he had gotten was an A in History of Magic, she moved on.

Getting to Fudge's desk, she filed through the papers, finding mostly meaningless paperwork. One paper was a hand written note to slash the Auror Department's funding again while another questioned the usefulness of an Improper Use of Magic Office if they had a whole team of Obliviators. She glared at those. What kind of idiot just wants to erase memories of magic without even trying to figure what went wrong in the first place? And the funding cut to the only people that were doing anything in this war? Shameful!

Finally, she found what she was looking for. Near the bottom of the teetering pile of papers on the man's desk, was a folder with her name on it. Opening it, she found it was her own personal record, the magical kind that updated itself. Everything from her marks at Hogwarts in her two years there to how she claimed the name of Peverell by going to the Goblins. She was glad it only covered what she had done magically. There would be no end of trouble if it could detect the godly world.

Shrinking the file and putting it into her bag, she decided not to trap the Minister's desk like she had with Umbrige's. Fudge was just an idiot and was listening to the wrong people, he wasn't evil or out to get anyone. She did take a moment to change the huge banner of Fudge to say: 'I'm an ass kisser' though.

Slipping out of the Minister's office, she almost ran back to the lift, almost forgetting that she was still invisible. Checking the directory again, she pushed the button for the lift and the golden grills opened for her once again.

She didn't have to go far when the doors opened again. "Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, Wizengamot Administration Services and Hall of Records."

Danielle walked out of the lift and made her way across a few rooms and turned some corners, past a huge set of doors, and finally found a door that read: Hall of Records. Seeing no one around, she pulled out the list of Death Eater names that low level grunt knew about, over one hundred different names, and began to search the huge shelves.

A few of the names were obvious, like the Malfoy's, LeStranges, Notts and Parkinsons. The files that she also took included the Warringtons, Flints, McNair, Dolohov, Avery, Rookwood, Crabbe, Goyle, and others. She shrunk them all and put the files into her bag. She needed this information if she and the others were going to put phase one of their plan into action.

Once her bag was full of shrunken files of the Death Eaters, she acted on a whim and took Umbridge's files as well. She might not be a Death Eater, but she was as evil as one and it was not out of the realm of possibility that the Hunters might need to make a visit to her home in the future.

Tom Riddle's file was also taken. The file had mysteriously stopped recording anything the man had done about forty-five years ago, but she doubted that anyone working here actually knew what that meant. As far as they knew, it probably meant that this Tom Riddle was dead or was going by some different name. If only the workers here knew how right they were.

Her work finished, she got ready and cast a powerful and silent banishing charm on the shelf on the end. In a domino effect, it knocked over the other shelves and sent papers and parchment everywhere, causing a huge noise to go off. Smirking, knowing that this mess would cover her tracks for a while, she quickly ran for the lift just as a few aurors burst into the room. The aurors were tired from being up all night as it was about two in the morning and couldn't react well at all. Combined with the fact that she was invisible to everyone meant that she made it back to the Atrium in no time.

Running faster than the average person with a combination of Hunter training and magic, she got to the telephone box just as the floos opened to reveal several fresh and ready aurors. It was too late for them however as she was already gone. Her bag filled with the files needed.

**Ministry of Magic, later that day**

Dumbledore came through the floo to enter the Ministry like he did every other day during the summer to find the whole atrium swarming with aurors and reporters of the Daily Prophet. Papers flew everywhere and the people running to their destinations were too focused on their goals to stop and chat. He had never seen the place so chaotic.

Fudge was seen barking orders from behind his aurors/bodyguards. "Dawlish! I need you to go get an Unspeakable and get the wards on my door back up! I can't have my office open to the public!" Dawlish went to his destination with a scowl but Fudge was already concerned about something else.

"Amelia! Find whoever let this person in and fire him right away! Put an auror in charge, I don't care."

Amelia, who had been trying to get her aurors under control, glared at him. "And how am I supposed to do that when you cut my budget again! I barely have enough money to pay the ones I have, let alone hiring new ones to play night cop!"

Dumbledore decided to intervene before Fudge could start ranting at Amelia, neither one would back down from this.

"Cornelious, Amelia, could one of you please tell me what is happening here?" Dumbledore said in his most grandfatherly voice, eyes twinkling like crazy.

"Someone broke into my office!" shouted Fudge. "Defaced private property and even stole an important document!"

"Which you won't even tell me what it was," Amelia commented, her eyes glaring around her monocle. "How am I supposed to find out where it is if you refuse to tell me what I am looking for?"

Fudge hesitated. Strictly speaking, files from the Hall of Records were not supposed to be removed from the office, even by the Minister. Fudge puffed himself up pompously, "could you at least tell me what happened in the Hall of Records last night?" he almost demanded.

Amelia rolled her eyes and turned to Dumbledore, "someone broke in and stole some files from the Hall of Records, knocking over the shelves in the process. Even with magic, it would take days to figure out what was taken. Fudge's office was broken into but other than some graffiti and something taken, nothing seemed to have done there. The intruder did break all of the wards on the Minister's door however, something that is only possible for the strongest witches or wizards."

Dumbledore nodded as they made their way to the Hall of Records. "I take it you have no leads then, Madame Bones? This does not sound like Voldemort or his Death Eaters."

They both ignored Fudge's wince as Amelia answered. "I agree. There was nothing like this back in the first war and with how high profile some suspected Death Eaters are, they wouldn't need to steal anything, sadly."

They both knew how corrupt the Ministry was but couldn't do anything about it. The sad fact was that whoever had the most gold controlled the Ministry, especially now with Fudge as Minister.

When they reached the Hall of Records, Dumbledore was impressed by the level of carnage. Paper was everywhere. Shelves were knocked over completely and buried half of the parchment and files in the room. Ministry workers were going as fast as they could but it would take days.

Dumbledore sighed. He only had one person or group that would do this but he couldn't say anything in fear of making Fudge even more paranoid. The Minister was sure to call for people's heads sooner or later but this would just make him violent. He just hoped that Danielle had what she came for and wouldn't do anything like this again.

Just then, the doors burst open to reveal one Dolores Umbridge. Dumbledore had never liked her, but then again, a lot of people didn't. She was a pureblood fanatic as much as the Death Eaters but seemed to think that the government would handle it, thus had no need to go to Voldemort. Everyone in the Ministry either disliked her or downright hated her and her stupid girly voice. The only exception seemed to be Fudge who praised her opinion more than anyone else of late.

Dumbledore was surprised however to see the senior undersecretary covered in soot and half of her clothes either burned or melted. Her hair was singed and she seemed to be coughing up smoke.

"FIRE! IN MY OFFICE!"

Her high-pitched shriek only made the Ministry workers nearby to clutch their ears in pain. Fudge seemed to be the only one immune, of course.

"My dear Dolores, you were attacked by arson? Don't worry, we'll catch the one who did this to you."

Umbridge glared at everyone. She had entered her office and was about to sit down at her desk when it suddenly erupted in green fire. She had shouted for help when it became obvious that water spells didn't do anything but no one seemed inclined to offer their assistance. She had left her office, still burning, to try to find Fudge only to be told that he was here in the Hall of Records.

Dumbledore stepped forward, "your office is on fire?"

"Yes!" Umbridge snapped at him. "I was minding my own business when my desk suddenly caught fire. A green fire that refused to be put out. I want someone to deal with this immediately!" Her precious kitten plates; so many kneazle lives lost.

Because, of course, only real purebred kneazles were worth existing. None of those half kneazle, half normal cat abominations were allowed to have the air they needed to breathe.

Dumbledore looked at the righteous fury on Fudge's face, Amelia's uninterested expression and Umbridge's face full of soot and anger. He then saw the various Ministry workers working together to lift the shelves back to their original position. He knew it would be a long day.

**Potter Manor**

Lily and James looked at each other and nodded. The Order meeting starting any moment was when they would make their announcement to leave. Any disillusioned members could join them if they wanted but they would not tolerate Dumbledore telling them what to do anymore.

Over the next half hour, members showed themselves and offered their greetings before heading directly toward the dining room for dinner. Lily actually started growling, it was like all they cared about was the food. How much did it cost in grocery bills alone to feed the Order? James was of the same opinion of his wife.

_'Bloody vultures, all of them,'_ he thought.

When everyone was seated and looking at the table expectantly, James decided to speak. "Thank you all for coming. Albus, how about we go through the meeting before we eat? I have a few things to say at the end and I think it's best to do so on an empty stomach."

Dumbledore and several others looked shocked at the change. Unsurprisingly, it was Ron who spoke first.

"What, no food!"

James rolled his eyes and looked at Dumbledore, who nodded slowly. "Very well, let's get the meeting started then." He cleared his throat. "This morning I found that there had been a break in at the Ministry late last night."

There was instant chaos as everyone tried to talk over each other. Dumbledore sighed and made a loud bang with his wand. "Thank you. Now then, the person or person's apparently got inside the Undersecretary's office, Minister Fudge's office, and finally the Hall of Records."

"Why would they break in there?" asked Tonks.

Dumbledore shook his head. "The Undersecretary's desk had burst into flames when she got there this morning. She'll live, but her office has been destroyed. Nothing seemed too unusual about Fudge's office, except for some grafitti on one of his walls and now some knowledge about his marks from his NEWTs. The Hall of Records however was in complete disarray. It will take several days, even with magic, to sort out all of the files and see what was taken and what was wasn't."

Kingsley nodded. "I saw Madame Bones earlier and she was not happy with Fudge. Apparently there was something taken from the Minister but he won't say what it was. That leads to the theory that he had taken classified information that should not have been in his office in the first place."

Dumbledore nodded. "There are no leads but I find it highly possible that Danielle and her friends had something to do with it."

"I KNEW THAT GIRL WAS NO GOOD!" shouted the Weasley matriarch. Mr. Weasley just sighed and hoped that his hearing would come back at some point from his wife's yelling.

"Excuse me?" said an indignant voice from the wall. Everyone turned to see that it was the painting of Charlus Potter, James's father, had been the one who had spoken. "'That girl' was, and is, the best of this generation of Potters. The fact that she has taken up her Peverell heritage AND struck a blow against the corrupt Ministry proves that she is working for the betterment of this world."

"I agree," said the painting of Dorea Potter, James's mother, which was next to the one of Charlus. "And besides, it's not like any of you are doing anything. I am ashamed of you Albus, even now you are trying to turn my granddaughter into your little pawn."

There was an indignant yell from many of the Order but Dorea wasn't finished yet. "For years, I had to watch and be ashamed of many in this room as they contemplate the destruction of our world. Even when I was alive, I knew that Voldemort would win if you follow Dumbledore's plan. He will lead you to ruin! You must fight for what you believe in and one cannot do that with mere stunners."

"ENOUGH!" shouted Albus as many in the Order tried to curse the painting for slandering the leader of the light. "Severus, what do you have to report?"

Snape glowered at everyone, particularly James, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore before starting. "The dark lord is trying to find the ones responsible for attacking Simon Rosier a couple of days ago. He is looking for the symbol that was carved into his chest but has had no luck as of yet. He expects me to lead the search for the symbol."

"I take it you have not yet told him?" asked Dumbledore.

"No, the symbol is taken from the Greek goddess Artemis, as we all know. But as the Dark Lord has never been interested in such a muggle concept as Greek mythology, he remains ignorant. I do not plan on telling him either."

Everyone nodded, the fact was that hardly anyone in the room knew anything about Greek mythology before a couple of days ago either. Voldemort would go insane trying to find it in purely magical texts but he wouldn't find anything as witches and wizards ignored everything to do with the gods for at least several hundred years.

The meeting went on for about ten more minutes, mostly from Bill and Fleur about possible recruitment from France, before Dumbledore was about to close the meeting. James stood up, along with Lily.

"Albus, I have spoken with Lily and we both agree to do this. We are hereby leaving the Order of the Phoenix, effective immediately."

Dumbledore and everyone else's eyes widened. "James my boy, surely there is no need-"

"No need, NO NEED!" shouted Lily, proving what they said about angry red heads was true. "You bastard! What have we done in this meeting? What have we done in all of our meetings? We talk about things but we never do anything. We discuss plans but we never follow them through. Danielle, Charlus and Dorea are right, we need to start fighting but not just with stunners."

"Now Lily, Danielle-"

"Danielle is my daughter and you took her away from me the moment you proclaimed David as the boy-who-lived!" shrieked Lily. "For years I watched you destroy my family but no more! We're leaving your little bird club and not looking back!"

There was instant silence as everyone digested these words. "Mum, dad, you really mean it?" asked David.

James nodded. "David, you have to admit that Dumbledore has lied to you and cost us everything. Do you really want to follow him?"

David leaned back in his chair and started thinking. He had to admit, he had hoped that the Order would be more proactionary and not as reactionary. Getting to battles too late to help anyone, basically helping the clean up crew was not what he had in mind. He wanted to fight, he wanted to take down Death Eaters. He finally shook his head. "No."

"David!" shouted both Ron and Molly.

Hermione decided to follow the Potters on this one. They had more experience with Dumbledore than anyone and if they were disenchanted with him, than anyone would be.

Dumbledore stood up to face James. "You can't leave. We need your resources and political power."

James glared at the man who he had once thought as a grandfather. "You should have thought of that before you tore our family apart. We'll find Danielle and at least try to make everything better, but you are not family and have no power over me, Lily or David anymore."

Remus stood up as well. "James, think about what you are saying."

James looked at him. "Remus, I can't trust him anymore. Are you with me, or him?"

The werewolf looked at his old friend, Dumbledore, and back again. Not sure who he should trust or listen to.

Sirius stood up, "Albus, you cost me my goddaughter. The Order will never meet in any Black house, I say as the head of the Black family and as Lord Black."

There was a flash of light and the oath was struck.

James nodded. "As head of the Potter family and as Lord Potter, Dumbledore and the members of the Order that follow him blindly are hereby banished from this house and all other Potter homes."

There was another flash of light, and Dumbledore along with over half of the Order vanished. The only ones left included Sirius, Kingsley, Moody, Hermione, David, Emmeline Vance, Hestia Jones, Bill, Fred and George Weasley, Fleur Delecour and Severus Snape.

"Severus?" asked Lily. She was sure that her one time friend would have followed Dumbledore over them.

The potions master looked at them. "Yes?"

James raised an eyebrow. "Does this mean that you don't follow Dumbledore blindly?"

Severus Snape looked at him. "I plan on working with the group with the greatest chance of success against the Dark Lord, up till now that was Dumbledore's bird group," he said silkily. "If this group has a better chance, then I'll drop Dumbledore and work with you."

James and Sirius looked at each other and nodded. "Severus," said James, "we never liked each other, but hopefully we can work together on this." Lord Potter stepped closer to the potion's master, hand outstretched, "teammate?"

Snape looked at the hand dubiously, but nodded and took it. "I hope we can work together soon." He planned on telling Voldemort about this little break up of the Order, then he hoped he could contact Danielle with any information he might have. He had already been a double agent for as long as he could remember, this was nothing new.

On the walls, the paintings of Charlus and Dorea grinned. Finally, the house of Potter would be seen doing something other than blindly obeying an old man who's sanity had wavered much over the last few decades. Dumbledore was still a powerful wizard, but he should have given up much of his power a long time ago in favor of the younger generation. The next few years would be interesting.

**Hunter's camp, location unknown**

Danielle looked at her two sisters over the table they were standing over. They were currently in her tent, which had been expanded so it was larger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Over the table was layed a huge map of Britain with various colors of pins sticking at important places. The table also had the files that she had taken from the Hall of Records.

"Okay," said Danielle as she looked at everything. "We know the names of at least most of the Death Eaters, we know where they live thanks to the files I stole, we have the locations for their safe houses, training bases and storage facilities and we know where all the horcruxes are. The only thing I have to ask is, what do we do with the Death Eaters?"

Thalia and Elizabeth looked over the map, lost in thought. Finally, Thalia spoke up. "It depends," she said slowly. "We have a few options here. One is that we simply kill them all as soon as we see them."

She, Danielle and Elizabeth grimaced at that. "I don't know about that," said Elizabeth. "I'm fine with killing in self-defense. But even though Hades practically gave us a Death Eater hunter license, I don't like the idea of killing an unarmed opponent."

Danielle sighed. "I don't either. I killed demigods in the battle of Manhattan but that was only because there was no other way and they would have killed me if I hadn't. There is a very fine line between that and murder."

Thalia nodded, "True. Okay, the second option is only killing in self-defense and taking out Death Eaters not attacking us in a non-lethal way."

Danielle nodded slowly. "As the head of a Noble family now, I have the authority to create portkeys. Alright, how about we aim to kill those that attack us, and send those that don't to the Ministry via portkey with their dark mark showing. That way they can't pretend they were under the imperious curse or something."

Thalia nodded, "that would work." She paused, "how good are you at creating portkeys?"

The red headed hunter shrugged, "that's another thing I have to learn how to do. We're just lucky that Hecate gave us that book or I would have no clue. I know the basic theory behind it but I haven't tried it yet."

"So, what shall we do now?" asked Elizabeth.

Thalia and Danielle looked at each other and smirked evily. "Well," said Danielle. "The first thing we should do would be to attack the purebloods where it hurts: their pursestrings. Take away their money, and Voldemort can't keep his army or bribe his way to power. We need to take out as much as their money as possible."

Elizabeth nodded. "Okay, the best person to go after would be those that donates the most to Voldemort's cause."

"Easy, the Malfoys," said Danielle. "They might be a newish family in Britain but they brought over a huge fortune from France and bought their way into high society. Lucius Malfoy is one of Voldemort's biggest supporters, take him down and there goes a huge part of the dork lord's power and influence."

"Doesn't hurt that tonight there is a Death Eater meeting," said Thalia, checking the notes she had written from Simon Rosier.

"Voldemort probably knows that someone knows about the dates," said Danielle. "But let's go ahead and get the Malfoys's house tonight. The others like the LeStranges, Notts and Parkensons would be good targets as well."

Thalia and Elizabeth smiled evily and shouldered their bags and weapons. "Let's go."

**Hill Overlooking Malfoy Manor**

Apparating to Malfoy Manor was ridiculously easy, getting inside the grounds looked like it would take some work. The manor was three stories tall with a large wrought iron fence all around the property. Danielle was blessing the darkness of night for it made their appearance all the more unnoticeable.

Thalia looked over at Danielle to comment on the peacocks she could see from their vantage point but saw that her friend was in her 'serious' mode. Eyes slightly narrowed as she took in everything, ears out for even the slightest sound, and mind completely set in her goal.

The red headed Hunter looked over everything before leading them closer to the property, wand out. Sensing the magic in the area, she paused right next to the ward line and used the same spells she had at the Ministry to see what kind of wards the Malfoy's would put up over their manor.

After a moment, she shook her head. "Lucius could at least give me a challenge."

"What kind of protective enchantments are we looking at?" asked Elizabeth.

Danielle gave an unlady like snort. "First of all, there are two ways in making a series of wards. One is making them connected so the magic is all intertwined with each other, the idea being that one would have to take them all out at the same time before they would fall. It would take a powerful witch or wizard to do that and is the best way to defend a home. What Lucius did however is he found a shortcut. Instead of intermingling the spells and making them stronger, he simply made the wards overlap each other. Think of it like having a series of weak domes protecting the property instead of one powerful one."

"So it's easier to take them down then?" asked Thalia.

Danielle nodded. "Instead of taking them all down, I can just take down the ones I want to. Really stupid, but that is Lucius Malfoy for you. There are several nasty wards here like one that would alert him if the manor is under attack and one that could make a person turn into bird food."

Thalia rose an eyebrow at that one but conceded that with peacocks around, it was probably a valid protection. "How soon can you take them down?"

Danielle reached into her bag and consulted the book of Hecate. A few minutes later, she nodded, shut the book and got to work. "With these wards, it would take about fifteen minutes to take down the ones I want. Lucius seemed to have done a rush job on these." She had to admit, using quick, inefficient spells instead of the more time consuming ones that offer better protection seemed to fit Lucius's personality. Instant gratification and all that.

It didn't take long for the dangerous wards to be taken down and the manor was ripe to be broken into. "Now all we have to do is get over the fence," said Danielle.

"And we can't take the gate because…" asked Elizabeth.

"There is a spell that only those with the dark mark can go through the gate," said Danielle. "Since Death Eaters didn't expect people who can think, they didn't protect the manor from people going over the fence on the side."

Thalia and Elizabeth both looked at the fence, it had to be ten feet tall at least.

"Ah, are you sure we can't use the gate?" asked Thalia, her fear of heights getting the better of her.

Danielle rolled her eyes and levitated both of her sisters over the fence, her bracelet having more than enough magic to handle the task. She then jumped toward the fence herself and climbed over easily, mentally thanking lady Artemis for the lessons on climbing rocks and trees to get a better vantage point in a hunt.

Once they were inside the manor's grounds, Danielle turned to the other two. "Okay, even though I got rid of the wards, we still need to get rid of the other defenses. Any house elves you find, knock out and get them out of the house. Once that is done, we can get rid of the manor…permanently."

The manor itself was dark and lifeless. None of the lights were on, which proved that the Malfoys were gone for the night. With the dangerous wards gone, the manor was easy prey.

Thalia and Elizabeth nodded as all three of them made their way to the manor. Once they got to the closest wall, Danielle shouldered her bag more securely and started to scale the wall, the other two right behind her.

Reaching a window on the second floor, Danielle used a nice trick she had learned from Moody when he was still teaching her how to use her magic. Focusing on a cutting spell and chanelling it into her finger, she ran it over the glass of the window in a large circle. Once the hole in the glass was large enough for even Thalia, who was the tallest of them, to get through, she vanished the glass and jumped into the room, her two sisters behind her.

Once all three were in the room, Danielle found that they were in some sort of sitting room. All three of them looked at each other, nodded, then went about their tasks. Thalia would look for the manor's weak points and 'prepare' such places for what they had in mind. Danielle went from room to room, looking for house elves to stun and levitate out the windows to safety. And Elizabeth searched the manor for any valubles that might come in handy.

Danielle put on her invisibility cloak and instantly went to the kitchen where, sure enough, found about a dozen house elves cleaning the many surfaces. She hesitated, how was she supposed to take down a dozen of them at once?

Thinking fast, she concentrated on the stunning spell and tried to focus her magic to send out a shockwave kind of pulse. She had used this kind of magic before, once against some hellhounds right before Zoe had found her and again on Grover on her first real quest to save lady Artemis, but she had never tried to infuse the magic involved with a particular spell before.

Luckily, it worked and the magical pulse knocked out all the tiny elves before they realized what had happened. Shaking her head at how weak the magic was, she figured that that trick would never work against Death Eaters. The stunning magic was enough to knock out the house elves, but a much bigger human would only feel a little faint from that pulse. As it was, the elves would only be unconscious for about an hour.

Feeling slightly bad but knowing she didn't have a choice, she stunned all the house elves again with regular stunners so they would be asleep until morning before getting to work, levitating all the elves out the front door and onto the grounds.

When she was done, she was just wiping the dust off her hands when Thalia came into the foyer.

"All done with the elves?"

Danielle nodded, "yeah. They were all in the kitchen so that made it easier. You find the weak points in the building?"

Thalia grinned, "you got it. Greek fire primed and ready. Where's Elizabeth?"

Her question was answered a moment later when the dryad daughter of Hermes came in with a bulging sack slung over her shoulder. "You will not believe how many of these gold coins I found."

Opening her bag revealed what looked like thousands of galleons. Danielle looked at her, "where did you find these?" What kind of idiot would just leave a sack full of money just lying around?"

Elizabeth grinned, "I found a drawing room on the first floor. I am a daughter of Hermes and found a secret chamber under the floor pretty easily. The money was right there."

Thalia and Danielle looked at each other and grinned. "You are brilliant," said Danielle happily. "I was just thinking of destroying the galleons but if we can steal it-"

"The money could go to a good cause," Thalia finished. "Go and find more hiding places but let's get back here in fifteen minutes."

All three nodded to the plan and started searching for more things that they could use or Lucius Malfoy could afford to lose. Danielle was finishing up with shrinking a valuable magical painting that was worth quite a lot to the right people when the other two came back.

"All ready?"

Elizabeth nodded, "yeah, found a few more hiding places and got a few more bags of galleons. Really, as the daughter of the god of thieves, it's too easy to steal these things."

Danielle nodded. "Got it, now then, one, two, three!"

Each of them facing a different direction, they each launched their own attacks. Danielle shot out a ring of fire which made the wall she was facing burst into flames. Thalia fired a blast of lightning that made the furniture catch aflame. Elizabeth was the best though as she let loose a long and stready stream of fire that set a whole hallway ablaze.

Not wasting any more time, they all ran out of the manor through the front door and onto the grounds, admiring their handiwork as they saw the whole manor on fire. Danielle launched a spell into the sky before they all jumped over the fence and back onto the hill overlooking the manor.

The last thing they saw before Danielle apparated them all out was the sound of a few explosions and green fire erupted among the orange and red. The symbol of a bow and arrow overlapping a crescent moon above the burning house twinkling in the sky.

**Mount Olympus**

No one would ever claim the gods were respectful of other's privacy. Both before and after the defeat of Kronos, it was common entertainment to watch various quests and see how various heroes fare against monsters and other issues.

"Yeah, that's my girl!" yelled Hermes as he watched Elizabeth steal a whole sack of Malfoy's money.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Hermes, you didn't even know you had a dryad daughter in my hunt before Kronos attacked."

Hermes blushed, but stil cheered his daughter on through the image above the hearth. Most of the gods had decided to check on the only real quest going on at the moment and get some entertainment out of it.

Hecate smiled. "About time someone decided to do that to the Malfoys. And it was my chosen one to have thought of the plan."

"Yes," said Artemis, "because we all know how much personal time YOU spent training her."

Hecate glared at her but couldn't deny the fact that the twelve year old goddess was right.

"You have to admit, Hera, that Thalia did do well against that mortal's manor," said Zeus.

Hera humphed and tried to focus on the only hero she actually liked in the last few centuries. Danielle was actually respectful to the gods that she interacted with, with the exception of Aphrodite, and she wasn't even a demigod. She had to admit, she had high hopes for this Hunter.

"At least, Zeus, Thalia does not have a big a head as you do," said Hera.

Zeus grumbled but didn't say anything. He was still smarting from that upstart Percy Jackson told him what to do. He was king of the gods! No one told him what to do!

_'They are all against you,_' said a voice in Zeus's ear. The king of the gods looked up, only to find there was no one around. '_The children of the gods are getting more demanding. Gaia is rising, but If you close down Olympus, she'll go back to sleep and everything will go back to the way it should.'_

Zeus shook his head, wondering if those were his thoughts or not. He looked at Hera, who was back to watching the image in the mist. His wife wouldn't betray him…would she?

**I was thinking of one more scene but I was told that I should leave a cliffhanger or two. Blame that reviewer. Again, I have no idea when I'll update again but I hope this isn't too boring.**

**By the way, I am trying to show how incompetent the Ministry is under Fudge. Amelia is a much better candidate and J.K. should have never killed her. Did J.K. even show what happened to Susan after her aunt died? As far as we know, Susan's parents were killed in the first war, Amelia died in between OOTP and HBP but J.K. didn't even mention if she was a true orphan or not. Not cool J.K., not cool.**

**Well, I'll get the next chapter up when I can but it might be a while. Until next time.**


	9. Voldemort part 3

**I am soooo sorry for not updating sooner. I literally have every excuse in the book but I know it's not good enough. I had to deal with real life, my job here in Yellowstone increased my hours, my motivation for writing had decreased slightly and I ran into several bouts of writer's block. Do not fear though, I WILL NOT stop writing this story! I will finish it! It just took me a while to finish this chapter. DON'T HATE ME PLEASE!**

**Now then, I know several people have told me already but the song reference was 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks.' In my opinion, one of Disney's better movies and a great way to combine live action and animation. By the way, I know this has nothing to do with anything but are there any others out there that prefer the old stuff to the new ones? Disney movies were much better back in the day and old cartoons could kick the butts of the new ones. Who cares about 'Adventure Time' when one could watch 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy' or even one of the old Mickey Mouse classics. I know that probably threw a lot of people off but I just like the old stuff, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones could wipe the floor with Justin Bieber. (Don't care if I spelled his name right or not, he's a loser.)**

**Someone reviewed me that I should add more cliffhangers and more references. Well, I did both. See if you can spot them all! Enjoy the chapter, even though I'm still not 100% satisfied with it.**

**Hunter's camp, morning**

Yawning, Danielle walked out of her tent just as the sun was rising. After her exhausting nighttime adventure with her sisters, she was ready to take the morning off before planning their next attack. Smiling, she just breathed in the scent of the forest, one she had grown accustomed to and one that helped relax her.

Everything would be peaceful this morning.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU STUPID TURKEY!"

Or not.

Danielle sighed as she looked over to Thalia's tent where Elizabeth and the daughter of Zeus were both trying to get rid of a newcomer. Normally a problem, but since this 'visitor' wasn't human, Danielle wasn't in any hurry to get rid of him.

The creature in question had the backhalf of a horse and the front of an eagle. The horse half was a dark gray, almost black, while the feathers were a lighter shade, like a cloud before a rainstorm. The hippogriff was following Thalia around like a lost puppy and if it wasn't for Thalia's almost scared look, she would have laughed.

Danielle did try to hide her smile, "having fun with our new friend?"

Thalia growled, "get this 'thing' away from me!"

Danielle shook her head, "you were the one wondering why Percy could talk to horses and you couldn't to eagles. Well, you can, and you made a friend. What's the problem?"

From what she found out, Zeus and Posiedon had worked together to combine their sacred animals when Apollo and Hermes had bet that they couldn't. The result had been the hippogriff and Hecate had fallen in love with it so much that she had asked to keep it in her magical world. It was similar to the Thestral, which Posiedon and Hades had worked on with Thantos giving some pointers along the way.

An angry daughter of Zeus threw her hands into the air. "How was I supposed to know that saving him would make him follow me? Now he wants me to take him to America with me. Tell him to leave me alone!"

Danielle shook her head, remembering the previous night after they had looted and burned down both Malfoy's and LeStrange's manors.

**_Flashback_**

_As it turned out, burning Pureblood manors had a certain art to it. Once they figured out how to do it, it was a simple matter of apparating close to the ward line, take out the wards, which could be a pain but was usually just annoying, looting the manor and then burn it to the ground before sending out the Hunter's Mark._

_The Malfoy and LeStrange homes were rather easy, neither believing that anyone would dare attack them, what with the 'light' side refusing to do anything like that and with all the power they had in the Ministry. It was almost sad how much Fudge would ignore illegal activities done by Death Eaters as long as he got bribed enough._

_The three Hunters were in front of Parkinson Manor. Much smaller than Malfoy Manor, the Parkinsons were nowhere near as powerful or as wealthy. They wouldn't be able to take the hit of the loss of their home, which made it perfect to attack. It was a smallish two story building that was still larger than the average house. The grounds of the Manor was fairly large, Danielle had read the file from the Ministry and found that the Parkinsons got most of their money by breeding prize horses and hippogriffs._

_"Okay," said Danielle, looking at her team. "Thalia, you free the animals from the stable, Elizabeth, you're with me, we're taking out that manor."_

_Both girls nodded and Thalia ran off to the stables, planning on setting it on fire after she got the animals out. Since the Parkinsons depended on their animals, the stable was large with two dozen horses and about half a dozen creatures that Thalia had never seen before. They had the front halves of giant eagles and the back half of horses._

_Confused, she looked at them. "What are you supposed to be?" she asked herself outloud._

_"The humans call us hippogriffs," the one closest to her said in her mind._

_Thalia jumped, looking around warily. When nothing happened and no one around, she looked at the creature, hippogriff, again. "Did you say that?"_

_The hippogriff looked at her. "A daughter of lightning? About time one of you came to this world. Please, if you release us my lady, we will never forget it."_

_Thalia shook her head, wondering why she could talk to magical eagle/horse hybrids and not to normal eagles. Vaugly aware of the hippogriffs talking to each other and the normal horses about the situation, she unlatched the gates holding them in their pens._

_With the hippogrffs leading, all the beasts ran out of the stable and into the nearby woods._

_"Thank you Mistress," said the hippogriff she had talked to earlier. "If there is any time you need me, simply call for Arcus."_

_Thalia nodded, "the clouds that warn people of a storm approaching."_

_Arcus dipped his front in what was unmistakenly a bow before spreading his wings and flying off with the others, the horses running under them._

_Thalia shrugged at the strange conversation before pulling out her spear and shooting lightning out of the tip, setting the stable on fire. Grinning at the now burning stable, she ran toward the Manor, hoping to help Elizabeth and Danielle with the looting._

_Meanwhile, Arcus was watching and decided to help this daughter of lightning. She was powerful and needed a stead of her own._

**End Flashback**

Danielle came out of her memory of what Thalia had told her the previous night when she saw the latest issue of the Daily Prophet sitting at the table in between the three tents of their camp. Letting Thalia argue with the hippogriff in the background, she smirked when she saw the headline.

**Pureblood Family Manors Burn!**

**By Rita Skeeter**

In a series of attacks last night, multiple homes belonging to respected and honored Purebloods were burned to the ground. The properties include Malfoy Manor, Parkinson Manor, Nott Manor and the LeStrange home.

Every place of residence that was set ablaze had a combination of normal fire and a green fire that refused to be put out until all source of fuel had run its course. Aurors and concerned neighbors alike had helped in trying to put out the fires but the green fire refused to be put out, even when the normal one had stopped burning.

Every home had the same strange symbol in the sky: a bow and arrow overlapping a crescent moon. Is this some new symbol by You-Know-Who? Or is this from some new extreme cult that is determined to wipe out Purebloods on the Wizengamot?

While the LeStranges are known Death Eaters, it is also proven that the other families were rumored to be You-Know-Who's supporters in the first war. Is this some attempt at payback by those that did not believe that they were under the Imperious Curse?

Danielle continued to read the article with growing amusement. Apparently, the Malfoy's were unavailable for comment while the Parkinsons were drowned in grief. The Notts had to be sent to St. Mungos when they flooed directly into their burning manor for smoke inhailation and several burns. The LeStranges were the only ones that did not have a manor, having given too much of their money to Voldemort, but they had managed to escape their burning house just in time.

The best thing though was that the Ministry now knew where the infamous Bellatrix LeStrange, her husband and his brother had been staying since their escape from Azkaban and now they had no home to hide in. Danielle was certain that Voldemort would find the room for his crazy second in command but he would not be happy about this. That thought made her smile.

Turning around, she saw that Thalia was giving up on Arcus and was simply petting him with a doomed expression on her face. The fact that the daughter of Zeus now had a flying companion like a hippogriff would have made sense if it was anyone other than Thalia. Her fear of heights plus now having a stead who could fly could only equal disaster, making it both ironic and hilarious.

"Thalia," said Elizabeth. "Just convince him to go to camp. I'm sure that Chiron would love to keep him."

Arcus made some noise that was between a screech and a bark.

Thalia sighed, "he wants to stay with me." She turned to the hippogriff, "I'm not flying on you."

Arcus gave her a stern look.

"I'm serious!"

Another glare.

Thalia finally huffed and almost ran to her tent, Arcus following like some huge dog.

Danielle and Elizabeth looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

**Death Eater Headquarters (location unknown)**

Voldemort sneered at his copy of the Daily Prophet before setting it on fire. It was nothing he hadn't already known.

The meeting the previous night was just to alert his Death Eaters of the new attacks he had planned, nothing major. The most interesting part of the meeting was news from Severus about the split in the Order of the Burnt Chicken. Apparently, Dumbledore was either losing his touch or someone actually wanted to do something against him.

Such a novelty, he almost felt proud to be taken seriously now.

The Dark Lord sighed and reclined into his throne, Nagini wrapped around the legs of the chair like a pet dog. This string of attacks against his Death Eaters was not good. After questioning the owners of the manors that were attacked, he found that some were financially secure enough for it not to mean much while others would need a new home.

Lucius Malfoy had told him that while Malfoy Manor had been extremely valuable and the loss of everything inside was a blow, there were smaller Malfoy homes that he could work out of for the moment. Indeed, even with the destruction of his biggest asset, the Malfoys had probably only lost about a third of their fortune, not enough to be a real setback.

Lucius had told him that his fortune had been split into thirds. One part that was now gone from the Manor, one part in Gringotts that was safe, and the last part was in a safe location that only he knew the whereabouts of that was guarded by imperiosed Muggle guards. Indeed, the Malfoys were not going to be hurting for money for a while, even if they had to cut back on bribing Fudge for now.

The Notts were almost as wealthy as the Malfoys, even if most of their fortune was in Gringotts at the moment. They did have a secret stash in their manor that was stolen or destroyed now but they would bounce back with avengence. They were in St. Mungos now but would be back within the next few days.

Others were not so lucky.

The LeStranges had been denied their vaults at Gringotts right after he had broken them out of Azkaban. Of course, that had been declared by the Ministry, not by the goblins who didn't care if their customers were criminals or not. That being said, the LeStranges didn't have a lot of money left after giving most of their fortune to him during the first war. They still had quite a few valuable heirlooms left but not much in the way of liquid assets. Their home was the only non-manor that had been attacked and all three were now staying with him for the time being.

He was a merciful Dark Lord after all. Even if he had to torture the two LeStrange brothers for letting their home be destroyed. He would have done the same to Bellatrix but he wasn't sure if she had the sanity to spare if he accidently torutured her for too long. Still, his punishment of her healing the prisoners without magic might have been too much for her to handle, he had no idea she could scream that loudly.

The Parkinsons, he honestly couldn't care much about. He supposed it was a loss of a few extra wands for the moment as they were deep in grief over the loss of not only their manor but also all of their money and animals. They were now about as wealthy as the Weasleys since they had given him all of their excess money instead of saving it just in case something like this happened. He would give them a few days to get over it before he gave them any more missions.

The thing that really rankled him however was that accursed symbol in the sky over all the burning manors. It was the same one that was still burned into Rosier's chest. Who were these mysterious girls? How did they break into his Death Eater's homes and burn them to the ground? He had never seen the likes of that green fire before, fire that refused to be put out even with water spells. He could do the same with Fiendfyre but that cost a lot of concentration for even him to make sure it did not go out of control and burn everything within a five mile radius.

For now, he decided to watch and wait. If he was curious about these girls, then Dumbledore would be pulling his beard out trying to find answers. Severus would bring him any clues he needed to find these girls and kill them, he had never failed him yet.

**Hogwarts Great Hall**

With the loss of both Potter Manor and Grimmauld Place for Headquarters for the Order, Dumbledore was forced to hold the meetings at either Hogwarts or the Burrow. Seeing that Molly lived at the Burrow, the headmaster figured that the school would be a better place during the summer. Hogwarts was mostly empty during the two months of the holidays anyway so it was a perfect place to meet.

Dumbledore looked at the remaining members of the Order, the ones that were loyal to him and him alone. He was not too happy with those that stayed.

Deadelus Diggle was mostly in awe of him and his power but did not have any dueling expertise, high ranking connections, or resources that could be used to further the destruction of Voldemort or his Death Eaters.

Elphius Doge had been an old school friend who he had known almost as long as Alberforth. While Doge was a good friend, he was not too skilled with most things related to combat and his best years were far behind him. He was good at espionage now but he was nowhere near as fast or as stealthy as he used to be.

Sturgis Podmore was good at doing what he was told but had very few ideas of doing anything new or improvising on the spot. Following orders suited him, not leading even a few men into action.

Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin were both talking quietly to each other, occasionally looking at him with a worried expression. Tonks was young but as a metamorphmagus, she could easily sneak into otherwise restricted areas and take information that he might need. Young Tonks had grown up on stories of how powerful he was and he was infailiable, the chance to work under him had been why she had sought him out in the first place. The only thing he couldn't figure out was why she hated her first name, Nymphadora was a perfectly lovely name to Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Remus Lupin acted as a special correspondence between him and the various groups of magical creatures that might turn to Voldemort, usually werewolves. A werewolf himself, Remus had mixed results with the various meetings he went to, convincing some packs to remain neutral while losing others to Fenrir Greyback, the killer werewolf that was pro-Voldemort.

Of course, most of the Order wouldn't want to work with a pack of werewolves anyway. Molly would screech the moment she found out that they were working with more than one 'dangerous creature.'

The remaining Weasleys didn't have the talents he was looking for, sadly. Molly was a good cook but with a legion of house elves at Hogwarts, her skills weren't needed here. Arthur was a good and honorable man who worked hard for a family he loved but that wouldn't work against Death Eaters and he was an average wizard, all things considered. Ron was, there was no other way of saying it, lazy and unmotivated to do anything that wasn't chess or Quidditch related. Average in every respect, he was not taking the loss of his best mate and friend easily. Ginny was above average in power, being the seventh child in their family and the only female Weasley born in seven generations gave her more to work with in spells, but her best curse was mostly used for pranks. How could one use the bat-bogey hex in any other way?

Percy was still working for the Ministry and Fudge and he had no idea what Charlie would do when he came back from Romania. He figured that the second oldest Weasley would probably side with his older brother and the twins however, he had always been close to them, more so than the others.

Dumbledore wasn't sure where Mundungous was but wasn't too concerned about it. Probably off selling more stolen cauldrons in Diagon Alley or something.

All in all, the remaining Order members were mostly just ordinary people that wanted to help the great wizard of the light against Voldemort in the war. Not exactly what he wanted in an elite fighting force. Even Minerva didn't want to attend any more meetings until they had some results they could show her. At least Severus was still with him, bless Merlin that the Potion's master hadn't given up on the side of the light. Severus explained that he wanted to know what the Potters were planning before he returned to his side but he agreed to spy on them. Dumbledore smiled at that thought, he now had a three way spy.

The meeting he had called had the normal problems and tribulations that happened in a war. People vanishing, attacks on Muggles, that kind of thing. Dumbledore found his attention drawn to a more important matter, the attacks on the Death Eater manors.

He knew that Danielle was behind it, the Hunter mark in the sky made it too easy for him to figure out, but he knew why she advertised what she did. She wanted to strike fear into the hearts of the Death Eaters and tell them that there was a new player in this war. How cute.

Sadly, all she did was probably anger Voldemort into stepping up his attacks on Muggles and Muggleborns. As for the Pureblood families themselves…

He mentally sighed. Burning down their manors was not the way to lead them back to the light. It would only make them want revenge and follow Voldemort even more savegly, though Bellatrix could hardly be any more fanatical in her devotion. When all those poor Pureblood families realized their mistakes in following Tom, the light would have far fewer resources than if Danielle hadn't done anything. How many orphanages could the Malfoys support when they were redeemed now? Not as many as before, that was certain.

"And we lost another werewolf pack to him yesterday," said Lupin, sighing. Dumbledore shook himself back to focus on the task at hand. Lupin continued, "I heard rumors that You-Know-Who is thinking of asking that powerful vampire coven in Italy for help but they seem rather reluctant to do anything in our war. Apparently they are more focused on the North-Western United States for some reason."

Dumbledore nodded. He hadn't liked the head of that coven, Darro or something like that. He was not as bad as Voldemort but he was too touchy feely for his tastes. He lost focus again until he heard Molly screech something when someone asked her a question.

"BILL, FRED, AND GEORGE ARE COMPLETELY ADDELED BY THAT GIRL! DANIELLE IS RUININIG MY FAMILY!"

Arthur sighed, pondering if anyone would notice if he slammed his head into the table they were sitting at. He loved his wife dearly but she had no sense of tact at all. There was a reason why his two eldest at moved out of the country as soon as they could and why Percy, Fred and George had found their own places as soon as they could. Molly was loud, overbearing, and seemed to think that the war would be won by wrapping her children in bubblewrap and keeping them out of the fighting entirely; he was quite proud to know what bubblewrap was now, and the popping noises it made.

After letting Molly rant for a good twenty minutes, allowing her to vent now since she would be irritable and furious for the rest of the meeting if she didn't, Snape got their attention.

"For those who don't know, the dark lord does not care about the destruction of the manors that were burned down. He has ordered his Death Eaters to put more defensive wards on their homes but that is the extent of his plans.

"I am also in contact with the Potters and their group. As of now, they do not have any real plans but are quickly making them to combat Death Eaters with more heavy handed spells. Potter and Black are the ringleaders in that area."

Dumbledore nodded. Yet more poor souls that would not be able to turn to the light. Didn't people understand that Death Eaters needed to be prodded back to the side of good, meaning his side?

The meeting finally ended and they got up to leave. The ancient headmaster was stopped however when young Nymphadora came up to him.

"Sir. I know I'm new and everything but I kinda expected us to be, you know, actually doing something against Death Eaters." The metamorphmagus looked pleadingly at Dumbledore. "This is why I joined the Aurors and the Order. Actually fighing back. When do you think…"

She trailed off but it was clear that she was looking for some action. So far, her job as an Auror was ten times more exciting than being a member of the Order of the Phoenix, even with all the paperwork!

Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling madly. "Do not worry about it, Nymphadora. The time for action will come soon."

Tonks glared at him slightly at the name-that-shall-not-be-mentioned but nodded anyway, going back to Remus. At this point, she didn't care about the Order or Dumbledore. She wanted to make a difference in this thing, and by Morgana she was going to do it! Remus was already torn between the two fractions against Voldemort but the werewolf was already leaning toward one side.

The side without the lemon and sugar addled old man on it.

**(Leaky Cauldron)**

A figure in a dark robe was sitting alone in a corner of the shabby pub, drinking some butterbeer, waiting. She had been told to meet at this time for an important meeting and was curious about what it was about. She had already used the standard anti-evesdropping spells and was wondering what this was about.

Just when the clock struck ten at night, the door opened to reveal the one she had been waiting for. She shook her head, why did witches and wizards insist on meeting at a particular time and they arrived on the dot and not a moment sooner or later? It was like the more powerful the magical, the more punctual they were.

The man that had entered looked around for a moment before waving off Tom the barman, sitting across from her at her booth.

"Good to see you could make it," said the figure.

Professor Snape nodded. "I was the one to call for this meeting, Danielle, of course I would be here."

Danielle smiled before taking off her hood to show off her face. "Yes, but after some things I've found out over the last few years, I don't really trust any magical with just their words. Now tell me, _Professor_, why did you call me here? By the way, nice patronus message; I didn't know you still loved my mother that way."

If the potion's master was thrown off guard by that comment, he didn't show it. "I have news for you and your group. It seems that the Order has been split by your appearance. Half follow Dumbledore like sheep while the others have decided to actually do something in this war, I am part of the latter."

Danielle smiled thinly, "good for you. About time Dumbledore realized that his actions were getting people killed. Now then, why did you bring me here?"

"A few reasons. First, I promised your parents to tell you that they led the split in the Order. It seems that they want their little girl back."

Danielle scowled. "Too little, too late. I'll work with them if they show up at the right time, but they're not members of my family any more. What else?"

Snape continued. "As you probably know, I am a spy for both sides. However, I am most loyal to those that promise to kill the dark lord and your group is the most capable of achieving that. My role has expanded to working with you as well. Think of me as being the go between with you and your parents. I still have to work with Dumbledore so I can get any information of what he is up to to anyone who needs it."

Danielle nodded, taking a sip of her butterbeer. Eighteen years old and yet she still looked thirteen, making her buying firewhiskey impossible unless she used a confundus charm. "Good. I need someone on the inside and you're perfect." She pulled out her list of horcruxes. "One of the soul fragments that must be destroyed is in the bastard's snake. Kill the snake and that is one step closer to killing Tom. Of course, as it is a horcrux, it would take something powerful to do the job."

"You want me to destroy the snake," Snape commented, it wasn't a question.

Danielle smirked. "Who better to get close to it without raising suspicion? I'll be in touch when I get something that can destroy it since I am not letting you use my knives, they're…special."

She really didn't want Snape to have a celestrial bronze hunting knife, even if it was only temporary. If Voldemort got his hands on it…

Snape nodded. "I'll frame someone else for the death of the snake. It will not be hard. I also have one more thing to tell you and I will be on my way."

Danielle looked at him expectantly.

"The dark lord is searching for any clue to the symbol you chose to be your calling card. As of now, he is unaware but he put me in charge of research on that topic."

Danielle nodded, leaning back in her seat before taking another sip of her drink. "I think you can tell him certain things but you cannot allow him to know of the gods still being around. Disaster wouldn't even begin to describe what would happen if he found that secret out." She paused to collect her thoughts for a moment. "Tell him that my friends and I were inspired by the stories of Artemis and her Hunters. That would explain the influence but keep the secret of the godly world."

Snape nodded, "I will use that excuse after he demands to know what I have found." He paused, "as of now, he is unaware that you are a member of these Hunters but he will eventually connect the dots."

She happened to agree, Tom wasn't stupid. Arrogant? Yes, but not stupid.

Snape stood up, "I must go to inform your parents of our meeting but you can be sure that we will meet again. For now, one more bit of information. It seems that a certain bushy haired know it all's parents are still in the country and the dark lord has decided to inspire some panic and fear. I'm sure you can put two and two together."

Danielle took a deep breath. "When?"

Snape gave a smirk. "I believe in about ten minutes. I suggest you take your team and go." With that, he swirled his cloak around himself and strode out of the pub, leaving the red headed Hunter with her empty mug.

When she was sure that Snape was gone, Danielle removed the disillusionment charms on Thalia and Elizabeth who were sitting in the next booth over. They quickly stood up and faced each other.

"We're going, aren't we?" asked Elizabeth.

Danielle nodded. "Yes, we are."

Thalia smirked. "let's hope they bring it, I could use a challenge."

**(Granger household)**

Dan and Emma Granger were happy to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They did wish they could see more of their daughter from time to time but the life of a witch was one they had no desire to understand. Pure Muggles, they had been extremely confused by the strange things that happened every so often when Hermione was younger.

Sometimes their daughter would somehow obtain books that were a shelf too high for her to reach. They had once found her levitating a cookie jar toward her when she was seven but figured that their minds were playing tricks on them.

When she had turned eleven however, that was when they found out what had made Hermione so special.

She was a witch.

Professor McGonagall had come to them from a school called Hogwarts (strange name) that could teach her how to control her powers. Of course, Dan being the sci-fi fan that he was, had told Emma later that he thought of the whole thing was like Professor Xavier telling possible X-Men about his Institute for the Gifted.

Emma had told him to shut up. Hermione was not a mutant.

Year by year, their only daughter had left for ten months out of the year with strange and mystical stories of the magic she was learning and the friends she had made. Of course, since Emma was happy that her daughter had someone to talk to, she didn't comment on the various ways she saw her friends taking advantage of her.

Hermione's intelligence was both a blessing and a curse. She had been the top of her year in her old primary school and the teachers had absolutely adored her. Of course, this was a school of young children and young children always teased and made fun of anyone who was different and Hermione was no exception.

Emma had held her young daughter as she had cried about how the children in her school had called her a 'loser' 'bushy haired know it all' 'beaver teeth' and others. But as a mother, she had hoped that Hogwarts was different.

At first, Hermione's letters had an extremely happy feel to them. So happy that as a mother, Emma could tell that she was lying, even through a letter. Her daughter's written words were too upbeat, too optimistic, and if there was anything Emma knew, it was that, magic or not, children would be children and that meant teasing and name calling.

It wasn't until Halloween in her first year that Hermione started writing about her friends in detail. Apparently, if the letters were true, a troll had got into the school as some sort of prank and David Potter and Ronald Weasley had managed to get her safely out of the action while the teacher's dealt with the problem.

Emma didn't buy the story for an instant. She was sure that something happened that Halloween that had put Hermione into direct danger and her friends had saved her but she hadn't called her on it, hoping that her daughter would tell her on her own.

Year after year, Hermione's letters stated that something happened but she was safely out of the action every time and there was no need to worry. That hadn't releaved her fears when her letters suddenly stopped coming about two-thirds into her second year. From the other parents and students, she had been able to determine that some sort of dark magic had been petrifying various people and even a ghost but Hermione had said that she was not involved so she let the matter drop.

She did have to listen to Hermione complain about some girl named Danielle that summer though when she ranted about how the girl had beaten her as first in the class. Personally, she hoped that this Danielle girl would beat her daughter more often so Hermione would realize that it was not the end of the world if she wasn't perfect.

Third year, nothing had happened. Which caused Emma some breathing room. There were rumors of some prisoner escaping from a jail that was never mentioned but as the criminal in question seemed to be heading toward Albania at the time, no one cared that much.

Fourth year however had a reinstated deadly tournament that Hermione's friend had gotten involved in, despite the age restrictions. After that, Hermione had become extremely close mouthed about everything to do with the magical world. Emma didn't know what to do since her daughter was spending more time with her friends than with her own parents. Yes, children did need to figure things out for themselves but Hermione seemed more inclined to go to her school headmaster with her various problems instead of her.

Now that Hermione was out of school, she and Dan had hoped that she would come back for at least a little while to decide if she wanted to go a non-magical university or go straight into a career. Hermione however had gone right to her friend's house as soon as the Hogwarts Express had reached London and she hadn't seen her at all for almost a year. How was her own daughter a stranger to her now?

So here she was, her and Dan, watching some bad sitcom on television while trying to ignore the fact that their own daughter had more important things in her life than them.

When the clock chimed ten thirty and they decided that it was time to prepare for bed, a sudden blast shattered the front door.

XXXXXXX

Danielle, Thalia and Elizabeth all watched from their vantage point as a team of half a dozen Death Eaters had used a blasting curse on the front door of the house.

"Not very subtle, are they?" asked Elizabeth as they continued to watch.

Danielle shook her head. "Death Eaters are too arrogant for their own good. This is a non-magical house and has no magical protections at all. They probably think that this will be a simple slaughter mission."

She honestly didn't know the Grangers or how they would react to what was essentially a terrorist attack but she couldn't just leave. Yes, Hermione could be a pain but the other girl really wasn't that bad.

Hermione had been one of the few to not go out of their way to make her life harder than it already had been at Hogwarts. The bushy haired girl hadn't helped, but she hadn't hindered her either. Of course, she did think that Gryffindor's personal bookworm might have tried to kill her after it was revealed that she wasn't top of the class but that girl had needed to sort out her priorities back then.

Back in the present, the Death Eaters were starting to enter the house.

"Let's see if they like my welcoming."

Without another word, Danielle jumped away from Thalia and Elizabeth with both of her knives out and landed right beside a nearby Death Eater.

The Voldemort followers couldn't react fast enough to stop the girl from slashing with her knives, cutting off a Death Eater's arm like her knife was going through butter. Danielle would have to thank Hades later for altering her knives to affect mortals for the mission.

The attack on one of their own seemed to jolt the other Death Eaters out of their inaction and the ones outside the house started to rain spells on her; all of which she dodged or blocked.

Since their attention was on her, none of them noticed the other two Hunters before it was too late.

"Die you little…ACK!"

The Death Eater that had spoken suddenly found a silver arrow sticking out of his chest. They looked at each other in shock that such a Muggle weapon could hurt them at all but they were suddenly assaulted by arrows on one side and a red headed girl that seemed to radiate death on another.

Since this was supposed to be such an easy job, they were only rookies on the Dark Lord's ranks. The lowest of cannon fodder. Voldemort could lose them and wouldn't lose any sleep on it at all.

As such, they were not the most powerful or the smartest in the Death Eater army.

Half of them continued to shoot spells at Danielle as she almost danced out of the way while the others tried to shield themselves from the torrent of arrows that was coming from nowhere.

Suddenly, half the arrows being fired were on fire and that made them more difficult to avoid. Danielle went in for the kill with her knives and stabbed one in the heart with one while the other knife found itself embedded into another man's neck.

As far as she was concerned, this was just another hunt and the gods had announced that it was Death Eater season.

It was actually strangly liberating that she could kill all the Death Eaters she wanted and Hades wouldn't count it against her. The fact that she was saving lives by killing these pathetic scum made it even better.

One curse almost got her but she dodged at the last moment and used her magic to shoot a spear right into the man's gut. An arrow lodged itself into the man's forehead a moment later.

When all of the Death Eaters were either dead or so injured that they had activated their emergency portkeys to safety, Danielle felt herself relax. That was before she heard a scream from inside the house.

"Thalia! Elizabeth!"

Both girls were in front of her at once, looking worried.

"Some Death Eaters made it into the house. Prepare for anything and shoot to kill."

Both Hunters nodded, knowing that they deserved it for trying to kill innocents.

Running into the house, she grimaced at the scene she found. Mrs. Granger was still breathing, but it was shallow and erratic and she had small cuts on her body. None of them fatal but all were in places that would be extremely painful.

"Tell me, filth, would you like to die before or after we torture your wife?"

Mr. Granger was on the floor, panting and twitching from what was clearly Cruciatus exposure. For his credit, he didn't flinch and even spat at one of the Death Eaters that was holding his wand on him.

"That's your answer, eh? Fine then. Avada-"

That was as far as he got before the Death Eater found an arrow lodged in his windpipe. His companion looked surprised before Thalia used her spear to knock him across the room, unconscious. Elizabeth finished the first Death Eater off by decapticating him with her new sword.

None of them liked killing but it had to be done. This was war, one doesn't have to play fair in war. The only rules they had to follow were staying alive to fight another day and try to prevent their enemies from doing the same.

Danielle examined the Grangers and found them both suffering from the infamous torture curse. Mrs. Granger had been beaten up a bit but she would live while Mr. Granger would probably have to spend a week recovering from his injuries.

Thalia looked at her. "What do we do with them?"

Danielle grimaced. St. Mungos was out of the question as it was easily compromised. A non-magical hospital wouldn't be able to heal them effectively and their own infirmary wasn't stocked with the potions needed.

She sighed, what was she going to do?

"Hermione," said soft voice.

Looking, they saw that Mrs. Granger had come to enough to be vaguely aware of her surroundings.

"Please, Hermione."

All three girls looked at each other.

"They could help," said Elizabeth uncertainly.

Thalia was about to say something when the sound of loud cracks echoed throughout the front yard of the house. Aurors were on their way.

"Great," Danielle grumbled. This was one of the last things she needed. Working quickly, she shot a wandless cutting curse at still breathing unconscious Death Eater and cut off his sleave, showing off the dark mark. She then grabbed a tea cup that was still somewhat intact from the destroyed living room from the table.

"Aurors!" shouted a voice from outside. "Hands in the air and wands visible!"

"Portus."

Hoping that her quickly made portkey would work, she dropped it onto the Death Eater's body and he vanished in a bright light.

"Quickly!"

Danielle had never tried moving this many people before, especially two that were unconscious, by apparition but it was the only way she could think of. That portkey could have sent that Death Eater anywhere but the location she pictured when she made it, she didn't want that for her and her sisters.

Concentrating on both her own magic and the magic in her braclet for extra power, she apparated them out of Granger household with a loud crack. Moments later, red robed Aurors stormed the house for any clues, only to turn up empty handed.

**Potter Manor**

With another loud crack, the three Hunters and two non-magicals appeared in front of the gates to the manor. Danielle panted a little from the huge jump with so many people but pushed aside her exhaustion and turned to the unconscious parents.

_"Locomotor."_

Both adults levitated a few inches off the ground and the three led them up the drive to the manor. At the very least, Hermione would be happy to see her parents again, even if they had been the victims of a terrorist attack. Danielle did note that the wards on the manor accepted her and in fact, welcomed her back but shrugged it off. She didn't care if the Potters allowed her to come in at any time.

Danielle shot out a patronus toward the house as a messenger, not even looking at Thalia and Elizabeth's curious looks. They hadn't interacted with dementors and the messenger mode for the spell only worked within a certain radius, an Iris message was usually much better for communications.

In no time, they reached the manor just in time for Lily and Hermione to open the doors.

"MUM! DAD!"

Luckily, Lily had worked a little as a healer and brought the two adults inside quickly; getting to work.

XXXXXX

"Thank you."

Danielle, Thalia and Elizabeth were in the dining room again but this time to a much smaller audience. James, David, and Hermione were sitting at the table with the three Hunters while Lily was busy with Dan upstairs in a spare room. Emma would wake up shortly.

The red headed Hunter looked at the bushy haired girl. "This doesn't mean we're friends, Granger."

Hermione nodded, looking sheepish. She rubbed her arm awkwardly, looking everywhere but at the three Hunters.

"You didn't have to save them," she finally said softly. "But you did anyway."

Danielle frowned at the girl. Why wouldn't she save people in danger? Thalia and Elizabeth had enough tact to leave the room, as did David.

"You can thank Severus," Danielle finally said. "He was the one who told me that your parents were in trouble."

James nodded and answered before Hermione could. "We split from Dumbledore. We figured that he had caused us enough trouble and we actually wanted to win this war." He grew silent for a moment. "Do you think we could work together?"

It was clear that while he had almost given up at being a father to her, he was trying to reach her in some way. Danielle litterly held all the cards right now and to be honest, she didn't know what to do with them. Should she just forgive them? Hera wanted her to, but what did _she _want to do?

"I think," Danielle started. "That anything is possible, James. I don't think we could work together on the same team, but know that we are on the same side." She leaned up close to her former father, "just don't make me shoot an arrow through your head."

James gulped but nodded, knowing that this was the closest he would get to a ceasefire with his daughter.

Danielle turned to the other person in the room. "Granger, why are you here? I figured you would be worshiping the ground that the old man walks on."

Hermione sighed and leaned into her chair. "After that meeting, the one where you showed up, I did some thinking and some research. You were right. I was so busy studying academically that I forgot to see how this world works." She looked at the other girl sadly, "my options are too limited in this world. I thought I liked Ron, but I know that he wouldn't let me be anything other than a housewife. David's not my type, Neville is dating Luna Lovegood and the rest of the guys at Hogwarts are foolish idiots. I got no hope for a future!"

The red headed Hunter watched as the bookworm sitting across from her did everything _but_ suffer a mental breakdown. Hermione continued.

"Dumbledore promised to protect my parents if I joined the Order, no matter what." She looked at Danielle, "he didn't. If you hadn't saved them, they would be dead by now. I have no delusions that Dumbledore would have saved them, they are just Muggles after all. Why would he save them?"

Danielle perked an eyebrow at that. "The great Albus too-many-names Dumbledore wouldn't save two non-magicals that were the parents of one of his members?"

Hermione shook her head. "Dumbledore has always preached about Muggle rights but what has he done to protect them? I see that now. Muggles have always been ignored by the Ministry, especially now that Dumbledore is the head of the Wizengamot. Purebloods roam free to torture anyone they want and they barely get a slap on the wrist while Muggleborns and Muggles suffer.

"I've been to about four or five meetings of the Order now and nothing has happened. Dumbledore is more obessed about getting you to follow him than actually fighting this war." She looked at Danielle in earnest. "I'm sorry for my inaction at Hogwarts and my jealousy toward you for beating me in exams. Really, what do our exams mean when you were fighting for your life after second year?"

Danielle ignored James's barely hidden wince and looked at Granger…Hermione…with a new light. She grew up. Yes, it had taken a good mental smack upside the head but it had worked.

"I've fought for my life quite a few times," Danielle said slowly. "I've battled monsters, Titans, Apollo's foolish crush on me. I've killed my enemies for a better future for my sisters and myself. My best friend died right in front of me because I failed to protect her." She was silent for a while; remembering Zoe was hard at the moment. Finally, she reached out her hand, "associates? I would say friends but I'm here for one reason and once the dark bastard is dead, I'm leaving this world for good."

Hermione looked between her, the outreached hand, and back again. She nodded, "I'd like to talk later, if you want to." She took the hand and smiled, hoping that they could be on speaking terms at least.

James smiled, "I would offer you your old room back but I know you wouldn't take it."

Danielle nodded once. "I just came to drop off the elder Grangers. I wasn't sure where else to bring them since everywhere I could think of might either refuse to treat them or could be comprised by Death Eaters."

Her former father nodded sadly, taking off his glasses and rubbing his face. "I hate to say it, but you were right. St. Mungos has Death Eaters working there, just like the Ministry. A regular hospital wouldn't be able to treat this curse. Thank you for bringing them here." Hermione nodded, smiling her thanks.

Danielle shrugged, "I know this world. It turned its back on me when I was a year old. I had to learn or be killed."

"The school of the streets does seem like your forte."

All three of them turned to see Hermione's mother standing in the doorway, looking at them. While she looked better than she had when they brought her to the manor, she did look weak and pale. After taking a deep breath and pushing herself off the doorframe, she managed to make her way to the table.

"Hermione, you have some answers to give me."

Hermione almost winced at her mother's tone, looking everywhere but at her. She was wringing her hands and biting her bottom lip, not sure what she should do. "What kind of questions do you have?" she asked tentatively.

Dr. Granger just stared at her daughter, not budging an inch. "Everything. Everything you have hidden from me over the years. The first being where we are."

James took the opportunity to reach out his hand. "Mrs. Granger, I'm James Potter, father to one of Hermione's friends. I'd like to welcome you to my home properly. Danielle here thought bringing you here would be better to handle everything."

Emma looked at the dark red haired girl sitting across from her. She had to say, she was impressed by how mature a thirteen year old looked. She was wearing a silver and black outfit, knife holsters around her waist, an almost invisible wand holder on her arm and was even giving off a silver glow.

"Danielle?" Emma looked at her daughter. "The same girl that you ranted and shouted at after your second year for beating you during your exams?"

Hermione almost winced again. The way her mother said it, it sounded like she was scolding her for something that happened years ago. "I did thank her," Hermione mumbled.

"No thanks are necessary, Dr. Granger," said Danielle. "The people that attacked you are on my hit list anyway. Ma'am, can I ask you what you do know about this war in the magical world?"

Emma's eyes focused on her. "I didn't even know that there was a war going on. It seems my daughter thought it wasn't important enough to share."

Hermione was now staring at the table, looking completely embarrassed at being caught in her secret keeping.

Danielle sighed. "Alright, I guess I can give you the abridged version. About thirty years or so ago, there was a wizard named Tom Riddle that decided that since his daddy didn't love him, he chose to be evil. He renamed himself Lord Voldemort and created an army to take down all those that didn't agree with him or just for the fun of it. He was defeated the first time about seventeen years ago when he fired a killing curse at me but bounced off and removed him from his body. He didn't die like he was supposed to, he just lost his body.

"About four years ago, one of his followers broke out of prison and tried to find him in an attempt to bring him back. He succeeded. The following year, he put my brother's name into a deadly tournament in an elaborate plot to bring him back to full power. It worked. Tommy boy apparently spent a year after that bringing his army back to full power and has worked since then to spread fear and terror throughout Britain. His minions, that he calls Death Eaters, are who attacked you tonight.

"Hermione is a part of a resistance movement against Voldemort but she's safe here in the manor. Making it all the better to attack you and your husband. Neither of you have magic and killing you would surely devestate her."

Emma turned to her daughter with a sharp look. "And you didn't tell me any of this, why? Shouldn't your father and myself know if we are under attack by a terrorist group?"

Hermione sighed, "I thought that not involving you would protect you. I also put my faith in your safety with the wrong person."

Emma groaned, "oh, not that Dumbledore person. I swear, I've read some of your books on him and it sounds like he has done great things in the past but is slipping now."

"Finally! Someone else getting that!" the painting of Dorea Potter on the wall shouted. Emma looked at the painting, amazed that it was talking to her. "That old man is cracked and you are all seeing it for the first time. Even when I was alive, I knew he was no good. Charlus, I told you not to trust him!"

The painting of Charlus Potter nodded sheepishly. "Right, should have listened to you on that."

After Emma blinked away her shock at seeing the two talking paintings, she turned to Danielle. "And what about you? Are you some sort of special forces squad against these terrorists or something?"

Danielle actually had to think about that and smiled. Special forces squad? She liked that. "I suppose you could say that," Danielle said slowly. "After I was banished from the family after my second year, I found the world of the Greek gods and was trained by the goddess Artemis as a Hunter. I recently came back to make a difference in this war since the good side is losing, badly."

James sighed but couldn't say anything. She was right, afterall.

Emma looked at James, shocked that a parent would banish on of their own children but didn't say anything about it for the moment. She was getting an information overload this night but she did have a few more questions.

"Where have you been all this time? Why didn't you come earlier?"

Danielle smirked. "I was fighting in a completely different war before I came here. The Titan Kronos, king of the Titans and lord of time, was trying to take over Mount Olympus just a few weeks ago. After he was defeated, lord Zeus gave me the mission of coming here to handle Voldemort before he found the gods in America.

"If you were asking why I didn't come to rescue you sooner, it was simply a matter of not knowing about it until it was about to happen. A spy on our side told me about the attack only ten minutes before it started and it takes time to get to your location."

Hermione frowned, "wait, how did you know my address?" She was fairly sure that Professor Snape would not tell anyone where she lived.

Danielle just gave her a deadpan expression. "Really? Hermione? Does everyone forget that I was at Hogwarts myself and no one noticed me? I could stand right in front of someone and shout at them and they still wouldn't have seen me back then. I was there in the library at the end of first year when you told David and Ron your address. Your house was one of the places I went to for help after James and Lily disowned me, thinking that you would at least help a fellow student. Of course, I hadn't known that after second year, you and your parents went to France for the holidays and I didn't like the idea of breaking into your house to stay there. I did remember the location though so I was able to apperate to your house no problem."

By the time Danielle had finished, Hermione's face had found itself groaning into the table top, still wondering why she had ignored this girl when they were younger.

Emma smiled, "I'm sure Dan and I wouldn't have minded too much if you had crashed at our house while we were away. Anyway, it's late, and I'm still recovering from the attack, could we pick this up tomorrow?"

Danielle looked at her, wondering if she should accept or not. It was strangely refreshing talking about the magical world to a person that didn't know anything about it. Her sisters in the Hunt either knew not to ask her, knowing it was a sensitive topic, or weren't interested. She didn't have any friends that were also witches or wizards so she couldn't talk to them about it.

"Possibly."

XXXXXX

While Danielle was talking to her father, Hermione and Mrs. Granger; Thalia and Elizabeth were in the sitting room with David while they waited for information on Mr. Granger. The two Hunters were sitting next to each other on a couch, Thalia's boots resting on the table in front of her, while David was on a chair across them.

The tension was so thick that one could cut it with a knife.

Finally, Elizabeth chose to address the elephant in the room.

"So, you're the one who almost tortured our sister."

David winced as both girls looked at him with a menacing look. He was about to argue but remembered what Danielle had done to Snape at that meeting and fell silent, liking the ability to have children one day.

"Would it help if I plead insanity?" David asked sheepishly. Being forced to think for himself the last few days made him realize how much of a snotty brat he had been. The words of his parents, talking to Hermione and the absence of Ginny and Ron who were more interested in fawning over him and asking about Quidditch and chess respectively had forced to take things more seriously.

Thalia gave him a look that clearly said that she would like to run this boy through with her spear. "No, not really." She honestly couldn't think of any reason that could validate what he did to his own sister. His actions were inexcusable, though she did wonder whatever happened to her own brother…she would worry about that later.

"If your mother wasn't treating Mr. Granger right now, I would love to skewer you," said Elizabeth, her hands either wanting to erupt in flames or grab her sword. "As is, that would be counterproductive." She sighed, "Thalia, you hungry?"

Thalia nodded and Elizabeth conjured a plate of sandwiches for the three of them, loving that power of Hestia that she got by being her champion.

"Impressive," said a voice from the doorway. Turning, they saw it was Lily. "It's against the laws of magic to create food from nowhere." She sat down on a nearby armchair and looked at the two girls with interest.

Thalia rolled her eyes and glared at her like she had David while Elizabeth sighed. "Just a little perk of being me. Now then, how are the Grangers doing?"

"Emma will be fine with some rest," said Lily. "Dan will be recovering for a week. Maybe longer." She looked at both of them. "You do know that we are sorry for what we did to Danielle, right?"

Thalia shrugged. "Personally, I don't care. But for what it's worth, I'll never trust you."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement with her sister figure. "Danielle has been totally selfless in the time we've known her and the fact that you abandoned her for something so trivial…well, I hope Hades feels generous when you meet him."

Lily and David paled at the thought of possibly meeting that particular god. The lord of the underworld was not a person to cross.

"I think it's time to go," said Danielle as she entered the room. She was looking annoyed at the fact she was here but also satisfied at how her little meeting with James and Hermione had gone.

When the three Hunters were by the door, Lily looked at her daughter. "Will you come back? We are on the same side now and would like to work together."

Danielle froze, her hand on the doorknob. Once again, she had to wonder what she wanted. Forgiveness was a stretch at this point but James, Lily and David were trying in their own ways to reach out to her.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at Lily and noticed how the years had affected her. The closest thing she had ever got as a compliment was how she looked like a carbon copy of Lily but with James's eyes. Now though, Lily looked old, her face had more lines than before she was banished, her eyes had lost some of their luster and she just looked tired.

"I think," said Danielle slowly. "We need to coordinate some of our attacks. When's the next meeting for your group?"

Lily looked up, slightly hopeful. "Tommorow night."

Danielle nodded and without another word, left with her sisters into what remained of the night. The older red head feeling that maybe, she could salvage something with her daughter.

**Gringotts**

With a pop, the three Hunters arrived in front of the massive marble building. Danielle looked around, Diagon Alley didn't look any different from the last time they were there.

"You know, if this is the hub of magical Britian's economy, they're not doing a very good job," said Thalia, looking around the long street.

It was true. The whole place looked direlect and empty.

Danielle sighed, why should she help people that refused to help themselves in this war. Why was she the shephard for these sheep that called themselves witches and wizards?

Shaking her head, she led the way into the bank, nodding to the goblin guards as they walked in. Gringotts was almost as empty this time as it was the previous time they had come. There was only one customer and it was clear that he was a vampire from the stereotypical black cloak.

_'At least it's not one of those new sparkly vampires,'_ Danielle thought. That had been an odd mutation in the genetic makeup for vampires and had only came out a few years ago. As far as anyone had come up with, the old classic vampire was the supeior model in every way so it was just strange for the mutation.

Pushing these thoughts aside for now, Danielle went to the closest free goblin. "Greetings, may your vaults overflow and enemies fall by your blade. I wish to meet with someone about possibly investing in some charities."

The teller looked at the group and nodded. "One moment." He got off his stool and went through a door in the back.

"I still don't see why we're just giving the gold away," said Thalia, not completely happy with the plan.

Elizabeth looked at her. "We want to help people, that's why. We're not staying here and the gold should go to the ones that need it most."

Danielle agreed, it wasn't like they needed all those Galleons that they stole. Besides, the irony of what they had planned for the stolen Death Eater gold would be priceless.

About twenty minutes later, everything was set up with Grabclaw. The old goblin had assured them that as long as they had the gold, he was willing to look the other direction on where they had gotten it. Something about humans not smart enough to hold onto their gold not deserving in having it in the first place.

Danielle smirked. The galleons, roughly five hundred thousand of them, would be split between various charities. A part would go to St. Mungos as long as they proved that they were treating the victims in the long term care spell damage ward and not just milking the vaults of their families dry. One would think that a cure would have been found for the Longbottoms by now.

Another part of the fortune they stole was to set up the Peverell Muggleborn fund. For those Muggleborn children that couldn't afford to go to a magical school. It didn't even have to be Hogwarts since there were other schools of magic in Britain, but Hogwarts was the most famous and prestigious. Apparently, the other magical schools were more like a non-magical public school but they only went up to OWLs and only offered the core classes.

Finally, the last part of the money was sent to both magical and non-magical orphanages, to help the children find homes as well as upkeep for the building. Danielle's hope was that with better care for orphans, the world wouldn't have to deal with another Tom Riddle incident. Of course, Tom had probably always been a little psycopath but proper discipline might have been enough to curb some of his more violent practices.

The ratio of Galleons to pounds was five to one. So five hundred thousand galleons was the equivalent of two million five hundred thousand pounds sterling going to help those that needed it. When Thalia wanted to know how much that would be in America, and since pounds to dollars was about one and a half dollars to the pound. Thalia got her answer of roughly three million three hundred seventy-five thousand dollars.

Not bad from one night of work of stealing from some of the richest Purebloods in Voldemort's army.

They were just finishing the deal when a younger goblin ran into Grabclaw's office, panting. "Master Grabclaw, the bank is under attack!"

Grabclaw instantly stood up. "Who dares attack Gringotts?"

"Death Eaters," said the younger goblin. "And they are being led by Bellatrix LeStrange."

The three Hunters, who were still in the room, smirked. Danielle especially. It was time to put down that psychotic witch once and for all like the mad dog she was.

"Master Grabclaw," said Danielle. "If you wouldn't mind, I would love to handle Bellatrix. Do you mind if I use magic to defend the goblin nation?" It was important to ask after all, goblins were always suspicious of humans using magic within their walls. "I just ask if you have a window that overlooks Diagon Alley."

Grabclaw thought it over and figured that the worse case scenero was both humans killing each other. Danielle Peverell was polite for a human and he wouldn't mind doing business with her again while Bellatrix was the typical Pureblood. He wouldn't pretend to shed a tear for the woman that just forfeited her access to her vault by attacking the bank.

"Over here."

Leaving the office, the three Hunters and two goblins went up a flight of stairs, through a hallway and came to a window that showed all of Diagon Alley.

It was clear that Voldemort had gotten tired of waiting for the gobins to choose a side and decided to wipe them out or join him. About fifty wizards wearing Death Eater masks and robes were standing a few yards from the front door, which was closed and barricaded. Behind the Death Eaters were about a dozen shrouded Dementors as back up. The goblin guards in front of the door were now corpses on the front steps. Leading the attack was the most feared witch in Britain and Voldemort's right hand, Bellatrix LeStrange.

Danielle whistled, "nice army they got. Too bad that without Bellatrix, they would fold like a house of cards."

Thalia and Elizabeth nodded, take out the head and the body would follow.

"So, we take out this Bellatrix character and we win?" asked Thalia.

"Sort of. Without her, the rest of the Death Eaters won't be able to focus on the attack. Grabclaw, is it possible to appearate to one of the rooftops of the shops from here?"

The old goblin had been listening raptly and shook his head. "No, we have ancient goblin protections that prevent a wizard appearating or dissaperating within these walls. It was to stop foolish humans from simply appearing inside one of our vaults."

"Or stop possible asassainations I'm sure too," said Thalia, looking over the soon to be battlefield, trying to find anything and everything to use to their advantage.

Elizabeth hesitated, "I might be able to do something. Which rooftop do you want?"

Everyone looked at her but Danielle considered it. "That one," she was pointing at the rooftop of what used to be Ollivanders wand shop, which was the closest building to the bank.

What Danielle hadn't expected was Elizabeth to grab onto her arm and in a flash of flames, vanished and reappeared where the red headed Hunter had indicated.

"What was that?" Danielle hissed quietly, not wanting to alert the Death Eaters, who hadn't seen anything and were still trying to take down the doors.

"Flame travel," said Elizabeth, who staggered a bit before composing herself. "It's like shadow travel but I can only flame to a place I can see. Hestia told me about it a few days ago."

Nodding for now, knowing that she would need a better explanation later, she looked over the battle. The Death Eaters were having no luck in blasting the doors down but it would only be a matter of time before they succeeded. Bellatrix was easy to spot, standing in front and shouting blasting curses at the front doors like crazy.

Danielle rolled her eyes, the crazy witch was just standing there and shooting curses. "Go grab Thalia and get ready to fight, if I'm right, this will be easy."

Elizabeth nodded and vanished in a flash of flames. Sighing, she didn't even have to pull out her wand and raised her hand in the air. Just as Thalia and Elizabeth came back, they watched as their friend had conjured what appeared to be a large metal safe about twenty feet above Bellatrix's head. Looking on in morbid fascination, they watched as the large safe fell, gathering speed, until it crashed right on top of Bellatrix's head.

The most feared dark witch in modern Britain was crushed when a safe fell on her head. Bellatrix LeStrange was dead.

Danielle loved magic users, they never used their senses and even the brightest would never think to look up during a fight. All they needed now was for another Death Eater to crack open the safe to reveal Bellatrix stunned with twittering birds flying around her head. Sadly, that was sort of impossible since that safe had flattened the dark witch's head, killing her instantly.

It took a moment for the Death Eaters to get over the shock of their most powerful ally getting squashed.

"Expecto Patronum."

Danielle thought of the day that she had joined the Hunt and with a wave of her hand, a large hunting wolf patronus shot out and drove away the dementors. Scattering as the ghostly wolf nearly took out huge chunks out of their dark and tattered robes.

At the same moment the wolf shot out, the two other Hunters brought out their bows and shot volleys of arrows at the still recovering Death Eaters. Those smart enough to bring up shields were surprised when the arrows went right through the magic barriers and cut them down. Danielle had taken great pride in researching runes and inscribing magic resistant ones on their bows, making their arrows able to fly through magic.

It didn't take long for the Death Eaters to realize that they were in trouble. About half of their number had been taken down in less than a minute, the dementors were gone and their leader was dead. Danielle and Thalia nodded and jumped off the roof of the building and into the street, Elizabeth providing cover fire with her bow.

With one bringing out her knives and the other her spear, the two teen girls cut down the dark wizards. Since Death Eaters never got any physical combat training, they were forced to fight from afar with spells, which the two girls dodged easily.

Danielle found that spells that were slower than arrows and since they had been trained in the Hunt, avoiding stray arrows was a must. Danielle cut through a Death Eater's neck with her knives before conjuring a spear and sending it flying through a man's gut. Thalia blocked spells with Aegis easily, finding the shield pretty magic resistant, before either slicing through them with her spear or frying them with lightning.

The battle was over just as soon as it began with every Death Eater either dead or near so when loud popping noises got their attention. Danielle looked over at the other side of the Alley and saw the white beard of Dumbledore who had just apperated with his Order.

Dumbledore looked over the carnage with a look of regret and saw Danielle, giving her a very disappointed look.

Thalia snorted when she saw who had appeared. "Oh, look, they arrive _after_ the battle is over. That's a shock."

"You didn't have to kill them my girl," said Dumbledore sadly. "They could have been redeemed."

Danielle didn't look abashed, ashamed, or anything. She just gave him an emotionless look. "And how many would they have killed before they reached that point, _if_ they reached that point. Face it Dumbles, I'm doing what needs to be done and you won't get your hands dirty. Thalia, Elizabeth, we're done here, let's go."

Just as they turned to leave, a girl maybe about the age of eleven or twelve came out from behind a barrel she had been hiding behind and looked at Dumbledore.

"Why didn't you come sooner?" she asked.

Dumbledore looked taken aback when not only the girl but everyone else who had been in the alley at the time of the attack also came out of their hiding places, giving him the exact same look the girl gave him. Complete dissapointment.

"We cannot be everywhere at once, my dear," said Dumbledore in his most grandfatherly voice.

That was not the right thing to say as the girl, unimpressed, walked closer to the old man in front of her and kicked him in the shin, making him shout out in pain. "Thank you!" The girl shouted at the three Hunters, amused by the show in front of them.

Danielle nodded and pulled out something from her bag. "Here, just in case you're interested."

She tossed the girl what looked to be a pamphlet that detailed the Hunt. It showed pictures of girls in Hunter uniforms, shooting monsters and had the words: HEALTH BENEFITS, IMMORTAILITY, and A BOY FREE TOMORROW.

The girl nodded and smiled at them before Danielle shot the Hunter mark into the sky, nodded at the goblins coming out of the bank, grabbed both of her sisters and dissaperating with a crack.

**Hogsmede**

Appearing in the quaint village, Danielle let her sister's hands go and they looked around. The place was similar to Diagon Alley where everyone hurried about their business, not making eye contact and doing their shopping as quickly as possible. A few of the shops were boarded up like Zonko's joke shop and Madame Puddifoot's tea shop.

Danielle might not have been able to go to the village during her time at Hogwarts but even she had heard of the nightmare that Madame Puddifoot's. More break ups happen there than any other place in Scotland, and that was saying something.

"So this is Hogsmede," Elizabeth commented as she looked around. It didn't look very impressive with the oppressing atmosphere and scared looks of the citizens and shoppers.

Danielle nodded. "Closest place of residence to Hogwarts. Apparently, it was created shortly after the castle was turned into a school to support the students and teachers. It's supposedly the one of the only pure magical communities in magical Britain."

"I take it we're not here to take in the sights," said Thalia.

"Nope. We're going into Hogwarts, get the horcrux, get something else we need and get out before Dumbledore finds us."

The castle was visible in the distance and it was the first time the two non-magical Hunters had seen the magical school. The Muggle repelling spells only working on pure non-magicals, demigods could see it with little difficulty.

Thalia whistled at the sheer size of the castle. "Gods, when you said it was huge I thought you were exaggerating. That thing is gigantic!"

Elizabeth nodded, impressed by the size of Hogwarts as well. "How are we getting inside?"

Danielle smirked as she made her way down the road. "Dumbledore is Headmaster of the school and is control of the wards. If we try to get in through the front gate, he would know instantly. That's why we're using another way in."

Thalia looked at her as they walked along the high street. "Don't tell me that the castle has secret passageways. That is so…cliché."

"Techincally, the castle is over a thousand years old," said Danielle as they passed several shoppers, "it wasn't a cliché back then."

The daughter of Zeus rolled her eyes, like it mattered to her.

"Now let's see…ah, here it is."

The three Hunters were standing in front of a shop that called itself Honeydukes Sweet Shop.

"Uh, I don't think now is the right time for a candy break," said Elizabeth, frowning.

Danielle smirked and opened the door, revealing the tooth rotting goodness. Though the tooth flossing string mints broke that stereotype nicely. Luckily the shop was almost empty so they didn't have to worry about being spotted too easily.

Making her way over to the counter, she saw a middle aged man working the cash register. "Can I help you?"

The red headed Hunter waved her hand over the man's face, "you will ignore us and allow us to go into your cellar."

The man's eyes glazed over and moved aside for the three girls to make their way to their destination. Thanking the man, Danielle opened the door to the basement and made her way down the stairs.

"So," said Thalia as they made their way to the bottom of the stairs. "What was that?"

"Confudus charm. I implanted a heavy sugesstion in his mind that he wanted to obey me and he did. It's not complete mind control like the Imperious Curse, but it works wonders on the weak minded. Just think of it like an alternate version of altering the Mist." Danielle explained as she flicked her hand and a trap door leading to more stairs revealed itself.

"Sad that no one has blocked this passageway yet."

As they walked down the old stairs into the passageway, Elizabeth voiced a question that she had been wondering about. "So, Bellatrix."

"Hm?"

"Why did you drop a safe on her head?"

Danielle thought about it as they walked down the stairs for a moment. "Well, I would have dropped a sixteen ton weight on her head instead, but she wasn't holding any raspberries. All she was holding was a pointy stick."

Thalia and Elizabeth looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"

Danielle continued. "Of course, I could have transfigured something into a tiger and have it attack her. Hm. At least she wasn't holding a peach, I would have used a crocodile on her in that case instead."

"What are you talking about?" asked Thalia, worried slightly for her sister's sanity.

Danielle shook her head slightly, "sorry about that. British humor. You wouldn't get it. At least Bellatrix is gone now."

"Was she really that bad?"

Danielle was silent as they reached the bottom of the stairs and made their way through the long secret passage. "Bellatrix was probably the second most powerful dark magic user in Britan, number one being Voldemort himself. She was his right hand and led the Death Eaters into numerous battles to victory. The reason she was so feared however wasn't her leadership, but her love of torture.

"I know I told you about the Cruciatus Curse, the torture curse. The curse only works if the user wants the victim to feel pain. The user revels in it and wants their victim to suffer a slow agonizing death. Bellatrix LeStrange had it down to an art form. A few days after Voldemort tried to kill me the first time, Bellatrix along with her husband, his brother, and another Death Eater used the curse on Frank and Alice Longbottom. She tortured them both into an insanity so bad that I doubt that Mr. D could fix it easily."

Both girls gulped at that. "That's what that curse can do?" asked Elizabeth.

"In extreme doses, yes. The curse works by activating every nerve ending in a person's body, making them feel extreme pain. Think of the feeling of white hot knives attacking every part of your body and then multiply the pain by ten and you might come close. There are other torture and pain curses but the Cruciatus Curse is an Unforgiveable and the worst because the pain doesn't stop when the curse is lifted. That's why Mr. Granger is recovering at Potter Manor, as a normal person with no magic, he has no resistance to the curse like magicals and probably demigods have. Of course, the protection is minimal but any resistance is better than none.

"That was just one tool in Bellatrix's belt though. If the stories were true she was a master of all forms of torture. Magical or non-magical, spell or potion, she could torture someone with just duck tape and a pencil sharpner if she had to. One rumor was that she litterly skinned someone alive just for looking at her funny, but it's just a rumor."

Thalia shivered, despite the warmth of the tunnel. "Makes Kronos seem almost humane."

Danielle smiled thinly as she walked through the passageway, now sloping upwards. "I think they were about equal, honestly."

"So we did a public service by elimating Bellatrix?" asked Elizabeth.

"Got that right. I should receive a medal for that," Danielle snorted. "Of course, the way things are going with the Ministry, they would probably arrest me and refuse to let me go until I agree to work for them."

Thalia shook her head, "that is totally insane."

"I agree, but it is what it is."

The passageway twisted and turned, feeling like the tunnel of an overlarge rabbit than anything else.

"So," said Thalia, wanting to break the silence again. "How did you know about this way into Hogwarts?"

"The Weasley twins. They're huge pranksters that could put the Stoll brothers to shame. They found James's old map of the castle and used it for their pranks and finding every passageway in and out of the place. I tailed them one day and found them using this one."

Thalia and Elizabeth were spared from answering when they suddenly reached a large stone slide. It wasn't steep and was possible to climb up with little difficulty. Reaching the top of the slide in no time, Danielle tapped the sealed entrance for it to open and jumped out, helping her sisters as well.

"Welcome to a third floor corridor of Hogwarts."

They watched as the hump of a stooped old witch closed behind them, reavealing what the other end of the tunnel was hidden by.

"Now then," said Danielle, clapping her hands, "should we deal with the horcrux, or get into the Chamber of Secrets first. The Chamber is closer but the horcrux is more dangerous."

"Let's get the horcrux first," said Elizabeth. "Like you said, it is more dangerous and more important."

Danielle nodded and started making her way to the seventh floor.

"Okay, moving paintings are awesome." Said Thalia happily, watching one that depicted a girl wearing flowers in her hair frolic amongst the grass painted behind her.

Danielle nodded but didn't say anything. Even though it had been years since she had been in the castle, she was still used to moving paintings and other magical things that others took for granted. She was just glad that Hecate's book included everything about the castle that 'Hogwarts, A History' left out, like the location of the Room of Requirement.

"Okay, why is that guy trying to teach what looks to be trolls ballet?" asked Elizabeth. She was staring at the tapestry in wonder, clearly trying to figure out what was wrong with that guy.

"That's Barnabas the Barmy," said the magical Hunter. "I believe he was clubbed to death before the first show. Ah well, it was worth a try." She was of course being sarcastic but witches and wizards did all sorts of strange things. Uric the Oddball wore a jellyfish for a hat, enough said.

"Now then, all we have to do is walk along this section of wall three times and think of the kind of room we want and the room will create it."

It didn't take long with Danielle thinking 'I need the room of hidden things' for the door to appear.

Thalia whistled, "you have to admit, a door appearing out of nowhere is pretty impressive."

Elizabeth looked at her. "You have lightning powers, I can control fire, and the three of us are Hunters of the goddess Artemis. How can you see a door appearing on a previously blank wall exciting?"

The daughter of Zeus shrugged, she was still in awe of all the things that magic could do.

Danielle opened the door and the three stepped in.

"Oh sweet holy Zeus," muttered Thalia, getting a good look at the room. It was the size of a cathedral for starters, with dozens if not hundreds of rows filled with junk everywhere. Everything from broken toys to old brooms, swords and other weapons, a huge chess set with the pieces ten feet tall, and old cages filled with the skeletons of long forgotten creatures inside.

"This might make it harder," Elizabeth muttered, still awed by the sheer size of the room.

"Let's just look for the diadem," said Danielle, trying to get them to focus. "It should just be a tiara with an eagle on it and a dark aura around it. If you see it, whatever you do, don't touch it. We find it, destroy it and leave."

The other two nodded and they separated, looking around for the long lost artifact of Ravenclaw. Danielle could still hear the others as she walked deeper into the room, staring at the shelves of junk. "And I thought that Hephastus's junkyard was bad," she muttered to herself as she kept going.

The things she passed were either of why were they were up here while other things really did look like they should have been thrown away centuries ago. She saw swords that was covered in decades old blood, a skeleton of some five legged creature in a huge cage that was bigger than she was, books that would be banned in the restricted section if they were out in the open and even some huge cabinet that looked broken, like if it fell from some height.

After twenty minutes of searching, Danielle could barely hear the others and had turned down yet another aisleway. One thing that got her attention right away though was something she had hoped she would never see again. It was a large mirror that stood at least ten to twelve feet tall with words on top reading: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

I show not your face, but your heart's desire.

The mirror of Erised? How did that get here? Danielle didn't want to look at it again. The last time she had was back in her first year at Hogwarts when she had stumbled across it by accident. It was obvious what it did, it showed whatever one truly desired, the deepest most burning thing that the heart wanted. When she had looked upon it as a first year, she had seen herself standing beside James, Lily and David, laughing and being a family together.

She could look away, turn back, continue to search for the diadem, but she had the strangest feeling that she should look into the mirror again. See if what she wanted now was the same as when she was eleven. Taking a steadying breath, she looked into the mirror.

She was slightly confused by what she saw. She saw herself, as she was, and James, Lily and David were with her, but so was Artemis, Hestia, Zoe, Bianca, Thalia, Elizabeth, all of her sisters both past and present as well as Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, all laughing and spending time together, having fun.

Her families, both of them, fully accepting her and each other. Looking closer, she saw that her reflection was standing on top of someone that she recognized as Heracles, who was broken and bleeding beneath her, looking apologetically at her and Zoe. Her reflection self was smirking and gestured behind her where Dumbledore was chained to a wall where he couldn't cause any more trouble. There was even a tombstone nearby that said Tom Marvolo Riddle, rest in pieces. Her reflection self was now smiling happily as both Lily and Artemis hugged her lovingly; both of her mother figures working together to make sure she was happy.

Danielle sighed, knowing that this couldn't come true, and looked away. If her magical and godly families met, there would be bloodshed, not peace. Artemis and her sisters might tear the Potters to pieces on sheer principle, Heracles would probably never feel bad about what he did to Zoe and Dumbledore would never stop trying to meddle in the magical world. She was still working on Voldemort's defeat, of course.

"Hey! I think I found it!"

Danielle jerked out of her self musing and ran off, leaving the cursed mirror behind her. Never wanting to see it again.

Running, Danielle and Thalia met up with Elizabeth a row over, who was staring at a tiara with an eagle on it. It was sitting on the bust of some old witch that might have been Rowena…or someone completely random.

"This is it?" asked Elizabeth.

"Let's see." Danielle scanned the magic in the thing and while she did sense a bright white magic, it was completely overshadowed by a pure black aura. The same kind that was on the cup. "Yeah, this is it. Who wants the honors?"

Thalia looked over at Elizabeth. "She found it, she can destroy it. I'll get to destroy one eventually."

Nodding, Elizabeth took out her knives and brought them down on the diadem on the bust. The knives cut right through the metal of the tiara and the stone bust, cutting them both in half. There was an unholy scream as some sort of black mist vanished from the now destroyed horcrux, but that was the extent of the damage done.

"That was it?" asked Thalia. "It barely did anything. At least the cup knocked everyone out of their chairs."

Danielle had been thinking of this for a while. "What Voldemort didn't know was that he couldn't choose how much of his soul he could put into a horcrux. It's always half. His diary had fifty percent of his soul, that was why it was so powerful back in my second year, but his second horcrux only had twenty-five percent, then twelve and a half, and so on. The diadem barely had any of Tom's soul in it so it wasn't very powerful and odds are that it only would have protected itself if we had put it on."

They nodded as Elizabeth sheathed her knives. "So the Chamber next?"

The red head nodded and they left for the direction they knew the door was. Danielle thought for a moment and grabbed a large rug on the way out, refusing to answer the others when they questioned why she brought it.

Leaving the room of requirement, they headed down to the second floor girl's bathroom.

"Why did a founder put the entrance to his chamber in a girl's toilet again?" asked Elizabeth on the way down.

Danielle shrugged, "it wasn't always a bathroom. The castle didn't even have plumbing a thousand years ago. I read in Hecate's book that the entrance used to a trap door but when plumbing was going to be introduced, a descendent of Slytherin named Gaunt was able to alter the entrance to stay hidden. The basilisk was originally going to travel under the floorboards and then the pipes after the room was turned into a bathroom. As far as I know, no descendent of Slytherin was stupid enough to actually make the snake attack anyone other than Tom Riddle.

"It makes the whole thing even more idiotic since the school almost closed when the snake killed a student. The last thing that Tom wanted was to have the school closed but he went right around and unleashed the snake anyway. Why would he threaten the school he came to call home, I'll never know."

Thalia smirked, "he's a wizard, remember?"

Danielle sighed. "The greatest witches and wizards don't have an ounce of logic. Maybe we could introduce some sort of critical thinking course or something, actually make the students think of long term issues."

Thalia decided to change the subject. "And the ghost of the girl the basilisk killed is now haunting the bathroom?"

Danielle rolled her eyes. "You'll see her in a moment, she never leaves the bathroom unless she's spying on one of the prefects in their bathroom."

"A voyer ghost?"

Danielle opened the door to the bathroom, ignoring the out of order sign, and let her sisters in. Just like when she had entered several years ago, it was the most depressing bathroom she had ever seen. The mirrors were cracked and dirty. All but one of the stall doors were dangling from only one hinge, and the floor was covered in water from the toilets.

A ghost of a fifteen year old girl was sighing heavily up by the ceiling, looking miserable as she hovered. She then spotted the newcomers.

"What are you doing here?"

Myrtle actually had a sort of high pitched voice for someone who was in their mid teens when they died.

Danielle smiled, shifting the rolled up rug on her shoulder as she did so. "Hello Myrtle, remember me? I was one of the only ones that actually asked for your last name."

Myrtle Henderson thought for a moment, before her eyes widened. "Oh, it's you, now I remember. Are you here for the chamber or to actually talk to me?"

The red head grimaced, she was only here for the chamber. "Sorry Myrtle but I'm only here for the chamber and the basilisk down there. But how has your summer been going so far?"

Myrtle sighed. "Peeves insulted me again and…" She kept going on and on. All the three Hunters could do was stand and listen to the ghost talk. Danielle kept thinking that maybe they could sneak Nico in here one day and try to get Myrtle into the underworld. Though staying in the fields of Asphodel might be almost as bad as spending all of eternity in this gloomy bathroom. Myrtle wasn't a bad person but she hadn't really done anything either good or bad when she was alive and then she haunted the girl who had teased her, sending her into this bathroom in the first place, for years. That probably wasn't good enough to get into Elysium and the fields of Asphodel might be pushing it.

Apparently, since Hecate was the goddess of necromancy, she gave magicals the option of cheating death in such a fashion if they chose. Only a magical could become a ghost but Thantos got the last laugh in the end, allowing ghosts to exist on earth but unable to truly interact with humans as equals. Ghosts were also always obsessing over something, usually about how they died.

Myrtle was obsessed about making everyone around her as miserable as she was, agonizing over her death. Nick carried on about only being partially decapicated. Helena was guilty about stealing her mother's diadem, ironically the one they had just destroyed and the bloody baron couldn't let his own guilt of killing Helena go. They all couldn't let go of their pasts making their time on earth their own personal torture.

"…and then you three came in to disrupt the boredom. Really, there's no one to spend time with during the summer with no students around."

Thalia and Elizabeth, who's eyes had glazed over mere seconds after Myrtle had started, were snapped out of their trances when they saw their companion was examining a sink in front of Myrtle's favorite stall.

"I'm trying to figure out how to do this," Danielle said, frowning. She sighed, "it would help if I was a parselmouth again."

Thalia turned to Elizabeth. "You are a dryad, can't you talk to snakes?"

"Nope. Never had the power, never wanted to learn. There weren't a lot of snakes in the part of Yellowstone I lived anyway."

Danielle meanwhile was experimenting various hisses. She had the theory that she could fake it but had no idea if it was possible. Parseltongue was a magical language that included a lot more than simple hissing, the idea of someone just learning it was stupid. She tried to remember what she had sounded like and the various vibrations on her tongue when she had opened the Chamber last time.

After a few tries, she stared at the snake etching on the tap of the sink, watching as the light caught the tiny emeralds that were the snake's eyes. "Open," she hissed.

In amazement that it actually worked that time, the three Hunters watched as the sink sank into the floor and revealed a large hole that was wide enough for all three of them to jump into.

"Nice," said Thalia, happily.

Danielle nodded, still in shock that it was possible to fool a magical language. Either that meant that it was possible to learn Parseltongue, someone had managed to alter the spellwork on the entrance to the chamber to accept anyone who can hiss, or Salazar wasn't as smart as he thought.

Mentally shaking her had at that thought, she turned to the rug that she had brought and unrolled it.

"What are you going to do with that?" asked Elizabeth.

"I'm enchanting it to do what I want," Danielle was busy etching various runes into the underside of the rug. Now that it was unfolded, they saw it was a beautiful blue, gold and red color, making it look almost Arabic.

"Enchant it to do what?" asked Thalia, almost worried about what her sister was doing to what looked like a normal rug.

Danielle smirked but didn't say anything the whole time she worked. It really was amazing what runes could do. About twenty mintues later, Danielle was satisfied and sat down on the rug, "coming or not?"

Thalia and Elizabeth looked at each other. "Did you really do to that rug what I think you did?" asked Thalia, looking at it dubiously.

They just got a smirk in return. Both sighed and sat down as well. With a yelp, both girls grabbed the rug as it hovered a few inches off the floor and made its way to the giant hole.

"A flying carpet," muttered Thalia, "you made a flying carpet."

Danielle shrugged, making the rug start flying down the hole. "It will only last a few hours. It was either this or take some of those brooms from the room of requirement, and I know you don't like flying or heights Thalia."

The daughter of Zeus had to admit, this was better than simply jumping down or flying on a broom, which probably wouldn't work for her anyway.

"How did you get down and out last time?" asked Elizabeth.

"Going down, I simply jumped." Both of her sisters stared at her. "Yeah, I know, dumb idea but it was the best I had at the time. I got out with the help of Fawkes the Pheonix."

"You know," said the dryad daughter of Hermes as she watched them go down the slime covered pipe, "you would think that Slytherin would have either made his own way in and out or simply made some stairs."

Danielle mock-glared at her, "I barely managed to say the word 'open' back there. How am I supposed to know how to say stairs?"

She just shrugged, which made Danielle roll her eyes. Not her fault she wasn't a parseltongue anymore.

They finally reached the bottom of the pipe and landed gently on the rough stone floor. The ground was covered in tiny animal bones and the walls were covered in dripping moisture and slime.

"Lovely place, isn't it?" asked Danielle sarcastically as she rolled up the rug and shunk it, putting into her pocket, "makes you want to have a picnic here."

Thalia and Elizabeth shook their heads and the three of them went though the only way forward. They walked in silence, weapons ready just in case the basilisk had been a mama at some point but they didn't see anything.

After about five minutes of walking, they came across a huge shed snake skin that must have been at least sixty feet long.

"You faced a thing that big when you were twelve?" asked Thalia in shock. "Alone?"

"I seem to recall a certain daughter of Zeus sacrificing herself against the most vicious monsters of the underworld and getting turned into a pine tree," said Danielle, not looking at the snake skin at all and kept walking.

Thalia sighed. "None of those monsters were as strong as a magical basilisk. Even all three 'Kindly Ones' at once were that strong."

Danielle shrugged, not really feeling anything from her victory over the huge snake and they kept going, deeper into the chamber. "We're technically under the lake," she motioned to the dark and wet walls. "Salazar intended the Chamber to a sort of home away from home and a private classroom to those that he deemed worthy. It wasn't until right before he left the castle for good that he placed the basilisk down here."

Elizabeth frowned slightly. "Do you really think that Slytherin was evil or dark?"

Danielle thought about it for a moment before answering. "Not really. You have to remember that he was around a thousand years ago, when the witch hunts were still around. The Ministry would never admit it but non-magicals were much better at burning real witches and wizards than they think they were. Memory charms weren't invented yet and the flame-freezing charm that could protect a magical from being burned was hard to do without a wand, only a few ever managed it."

It had been standard practice to remove a suspected witch or wizard's wand when they were accused of being a witch and the art of wandless magic wasn't a well developed practice. Wendelin the Weird, who had been burned at the stake forty-seven times in various disguses, had been one of the only ones who had perfected it without a wand. Even Sir Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, hadn't been able to protect himself but at least he had been partially beheaded and not burned.

"Because of the constant attacks on magicals, Salazar had a perfectly good reason to not like non-magicals. Was he evil? I have no idea but I have a hard time imagining the other three founders becoming his friends and creating a school together if he had been truly diabolical. I think that Slytherin might have had a bad experience with non-magicals and placed the basilisk here as a final protection around the school; or he just changed later in life, becoming darker as time went on."

She didn't mention that the time of the witch hunts had been a time of absolute chaos. Parents and children accusing each other, friends that had been together for years turning on the other overnight; it had all led to the Statute of Secrecy.

"So," said Elizabeth slowly. "Slytherin was either a misunderstood genius and everyone just thinks of him as dark, or he was twisted to that line of thinking later on?"

Danielle shrugged. "There are no records or writings of that time so I have no clue. At least, not from the founders themselves. And really, who in their right minds would think that just because someone is sorted into a house, it means that they only have the aspect that defines it as a whole?"

The very idea that every Slytherin is a dark witch or wizard in training was downright absurd. How could a fourth of the entire magical population in Britain possible be evil? Peter Pettigrew proved that not all Gryffindors were brave, and from what she saw in the other houses, Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecomb were not that smart for Ravenclaws and Zacharias Smith was not at all loyal for a Hufflepuff.

Thalia felt that the whole thing was flying right over her head. She had never really understood the personality test in the Sorting Hat being that important in the long run. Who cared ten years after graduating from Hogwarts what house they had been sorted into? She felt that the whole system was designed to keep the students away from the other houses and discouraged interschool unity.

She had no doubt that the Hunters would probably be scattered throughout the houses if they were sorted and now they were all sisters. Yet, if they had all been students at Hogwarts, they would be shunned from the rest of their houses for meeting together, let alone becoming friends.

They finally stopped when the tunnel came to an end, a large vault like door with two entertwined serpents engraved into the metal, real emeralds used for eyes.

"Open," Danielle tried to hiss. On the second try, a third engraved snake came out of one of the ends and slithered around the door, unlocking the various locks in the process. When the moving snake had reached full circle, the door opened for them to enter.

"You were right, it is just a glorified sewer," commented Thalia as they were climbing down an old ladder to the ground below.

They were at the far end of a hallway with the massive cavernous room at the other end. All along the walls were snake statues and other pipes that led to endless blackness. Once they were at the other end of the room, they saw a huge statue of Salazar Slytherin standing in the center of the room, looking ancient and slightly ape like. At the foot of the statue was an enourmous sixty foot long dead snake, its eyes blank and bloody.

"Kind of pales to that drakon Clarisse defeated in the battle of Manhattan but I guess it's a start," Danielle nodded, examining the snake. The basilisk was perfectly preserved, almost like she had killed it an hour ago instead of years.

Elizabeth stared at the snake with wide eyes, looking over every detail of the smooth scaled skin. "This is amazing! I can feel the magic coming off of this thing. It's still radiating magic even now and that's keeping the decay and animals away. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes another few years before it even begins to decompose. Even in death, this _is_ the king of serpents."

Having a dryad around really helped sometimes.

Danielle examined the face of the snake, thinking. "Okay, let's see if this works." She needed at lead one fang for what she had in mind but the magic still coming off of the snake might make it more difficult than she thought. Closing her eyes and focusing on the spell, she used a simple spell designed to extract rotting teeth from a person's mouth. Since there was no dentistry in the magical world, the practice of simply removing teeth and regrowing new ones was extremely common.

She could feel the movement of the fangs but none of them came out like she expected. Frowning, she pushed more magic into the spell, focusing on the four largest fangs instead of all of them.

It took more power than she had expected but the spell managed to loosen the fangs enough for her and Thalia to pull out the ones she wanted. When they were done twenty minutes later, they were both holding two fangs almost two feet long each.

Getting the sweat off her face, Danielle sighed. "Wow, that was harder than I thought." She examined the fangs, "you know, we could probably have these turned into knives or something. The venom is still in the fangs and could be used to destroy horcruxes as well."

The idea of having more weapons natuarally appealed to Thalia and was already thinking of what having a weapon that could work on mortals could mean for the Hunt.

Danielle carefully placed the fangs into containers in her bag, shrinking them in the process. She didn't need to be cut by a fang and get poisoned all over again by basilisk venom.

After spending another hour in the chamber to see if they could find any more secrets, they gave up after coming out empty handed. Either one needed to a parselmouth to find anything or if the chamber responded only to the heir of Slytherin, they didn't know but they decided they had done enough for one day and there was still the meeting at Potter Manor to go to later. Packing up their things, they made their way back through the door, through the tunnel and up the pipe into the girl's bathroom again.

**Death Eater Headquarters**

On his throne like chair in the large manor house, Voldemort was shaking with fury. Nothing that happened recently had gone his way and he wasn't sure whom to blame.

First, there was the attack on the Granger home that would have left at least one member of the resistance against him useless against him. Hermione Granger might not have the power he had, but he had heard several stories from both Draco and Severus that when the Granger girl put her mind to a problem, she would find the answer. Killing her parents would have left her despondent so she wouldn't be able to put her brain to use.

That attack had failed and one of his death eaters had been sent to the Ministry Atrium via portkey with his dark mark showing. How that had happened, he still couldn't figure out as that was not Dumbledore or the Order's style at all.

The loss of that death eater and all the ones that had died in the attack were useless and he didn't care that much. Muscle for hire. Just another few wands.

The attack on Gringotts however was completely unexpected. Voldemort figured that Bellatrix had been trying to get back her old favor by trying to do battle with the goblins. All he had wanted her to do was to show the kind of power that allying with him could bring, not actually attack the bank!

He had specifically told Bellatrix to not attack the goblins, just scare them into submission and possibly his side. Now he was down about fifty death eaters, Bellatrix was gone and all of his dementors were scared of wolves for some reason. How in the name of Merlin had THAT happened?

The most feared dark lord in a century sighed and leaned back into his thone, petting Nagini in the process. At least his snake wouldn't leave him, of that he was certain.

The loss of so many death eaters was a huge blow. One reason he was so feared was the rumors of this size of his army, which was nowhere near as advertised. In a way, he was thankful that everyone thought that everyone who had been sorted into Slytherin was going to join him as soon as they left Hogwarts; it made the numbers of his forces much larger than they truly were.

Of course not every person in the house of the snake had joined him, that was just stupid. It was why he had been forced to recruit the dementors, werewolves and giants, there just weren't enough purebloods in Britain to form an army, much less purebloods that approved of his actions. Various purebloods like the Longbottoms and McMillians were firmly on the side of the light. Others like the Greengrasses and Zabinis would remain neutral in this war, not joining either side.

Only those pureblood families that he could fool into promising them power if he took over were willing to join him like the Malfoys and LeStranges. He still wasn't sure how the Crabbes and Goyles had managed to get so far into the death eater hierarchy as they were as smart as a pile of rocks, their sons even worse.

Contemplating everything, Voldemort came to the conclusion that he would need to enter the battles himself. To be honest with himself, he actually thought it would be for the best anyway. He did need to get some action every now and then and killing a few people that were interfering with his plans personally would calm him down long enough to plan his next attack. Showing up in public and scaring everyone was the best way to keep the witches and wizards of Britain afraid of him.

**Potter Manor**

Later that evening, the meeting for their own resistence group met at the manor in twos and threes. James had to say, they did get the best out of the Order of the Phoenix and might have a chance actually doing something against Voldemort.

By far the best person to come to their side was Alastor Moody. With his no nonsense attitude, dueling and combat experience, and his vast knowledge of warfare, he was perfect for their group. Kingsley was good as well and was very much like his mentor but in a more watered down version.

Sirius, Emmaline Vance, and Hestia Jones were all aurors with James and he respected each and every one of them. He and Sirius were practically brothers during all their time at Hogwarts and beyond.

Even Minerva McGonagall agreed to come to the meeting since she was getting more and more disenchanted by the Order of the Phoenix and agreed to swear a magical oath to not tell Dumbledore anything in exchange for attending a few meetings.

Yes, James and Lily were proud of their new group. The only thing bothering James was that he hadn't come up with a name yet. Lily had shot down his suggestion of 'Order of the Stag' and he couldn't come up with anything else.

Just before the meeting started, the door to the dining room banged open to reveal the three girls that had started all of this.

"Thalia, I was just about to open the door," Danielle mock-grumbled, fixing the dent in the wall that the doorknob created when it crashed into it.

The daughter of Zeus shrugged, "I was impatient." She looked so innocent at the moment that many people actually wondered if it had been her that had kicked the door open.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I'll never get demigods with ADHD."

Danielle nodded and turned to look at everyone seated at the table. "Well, shall we get started then?"

James shook himself, not really believing that Danielle had taken Lily's offer of attending one of these meetings seriously. "Right. First off, I would like to thank you three for coming since you have done more against Voldemort in the short time you've been here than we have for years."

Danielle nodded, smirking a little. "Good to know. By the way, where's Severus?" The greasy potions master was nowhere to be seen. How was she supposed to give the man a basilisk fang to destroy the snake if he wasn't there?

"He sent me a message that he's being detained for the moment," said Lily, seating next to her husband. "He should be here soon."

"Now then, Sirius and Moody, how's the training going for more heavy handed spells?"

Sirius grinned, "very well actually. Hermione's helping search through the Potter, Black, and various books for spells that might come in handy against the death eaters. Did you know that there's a spell that shoots one's own spine into a person's skull? I didn't until Hermione found it in one of my family's books."

Hermione looked down, silently pleased with that. She didn't really want to use that spell herself but was sure that some member of their group could find it helpful.

The meeting went on for another few minutes before Danielle got her chance to speak. "Earlier today the three of us managed to defeat Bellatrix who was attacking Gringotts, wiping out her army in the process. Not only that, but we've also destroyed a horcrux that was inside Hogwarts and got something that will allow Severus to get another. When would it be a good idea to hit some training bases and storage houses? I'm sure someone here would insist on coming."

Moody grinned, ready to see some combat again after so long with Dumbledore. "You can count on that! We'll work on the details later but I hope you can keep up with me."

Thalia smirked, she was starting to like this crazy ex-auror. "I think it'll be the other way around old man."

Danielle was watching her sister interact with her old mentor happily, maybe working together could be possible.

After another half hour, the meeting was turning from war related topics to more personal ones. Hermione's parents were doing okay but were currently resting to heal from their injuries. The bushy haired girl had to admit, it felt good working alongside her parents for a common goal for once.

Just when everyone was about to leave, there was a flash of silver light revealing a doe patronus. It opened its mouth and spoke in Severus's voice.

"The dark lord is attacking Bones Manor for Amelia. Being forced to attack the Burrow. Hurry!"

With that, the doe blinked and vanished in the same silver mist it was created from.

**Whew, that was a chapter! You know, I was contemplating on giving Severus a bat patronus instead of a doe since he is mostly over Lily but I thought the doe was funnier. I'm not totally happy with this chapter but everyone was begging me to get it out, not to mention I thought it was WAY past due, so I caved.**

**Tell me what you think and we'll go from there.**


End file.
